Affirmative Action

The March 21 front-page headlines poignantly remind us of the sad state of education in the U.S. and California. "UCLA Eased Entry Rules for the Rich, Well-Connected" reminds all of us "little people" that other people's money and political power can take public education away from our own college-age children. It reminds us of the limited meaning of "public" in "public education." Just two columns over is "House Votes to OK Bans on Illegal Immigrant Schooling." Now the "public" in "public education" excludes young children--children marked illegal by a nation of immigrants.

Six years after the University of California became the first university system in the country to ban race-based affirmative action programs, UC regents are set to consider a mostly symbolic compromise that would remove the ban from admissions guidelines.

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, the Bush administration's highest-ranking African American, said Sunday that he disagreed with the president's decision urging the Supreme Court to strike down affirmative action admissions policies at the University of Michigan. "I am a strong proponent of affirmative action," Powell said in a pair of TV interviews. "I believe race should be a factor [in college admissions]. I thought the University of Michigan had a strong case."

Affirmative action is fast becoming one of the hot-button issues of 1995. The University of California Board of Regents has now joined the fray, announcing that it will re-examine affirmative action policies in UC admissions. Yet, affirmative action remains sound in concept, and could be handled sensibly. In particular, the regents would do well to consider a lottery-based admissions policy.

Sen. John McCain told a largely black and not particularly receptive audience of National Urban League members Friday that it was time for affirmative action to end. "We should provide equal economic opportunities for all Americans, and I think Americans have rejected a quota system," he said. Silence greeted his comments at the league's convention in Orlando, Fla. With race as a backdrop to the presidential campaign, the Arizona senator and his Democratic opponent, Sen.

The great tragedy of Trent Lott is not that one man managed to tarnish the entire Republican Party's image on race; after all, only 9% of African Americans voters chose President Bush. The tragedy is that he managed to sabotage conservative ideas in the process, making the right's principled opposition to affirmative action seem like nothing more than a front for latent bigotry. This is a monstrous lie. Conservatives do not oppose affirmative action because they are crypto-racists.

The Supreme Court rejected a broad challenge to California's Proposition 209 on Monday, clearing the way for full enforcement of the nation's first across-the-board repeal of affirmative action in state and local government. Without a dissenting vote, the justices turned aside an appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union claiming that government sometimes has "an affirmative duty . . . to employ race preferences" to make up for past or present discrimination against minorities.

More than 400 U.C. Berkeley students rallied on campus Wednesday to condemn a racist flyer distributed anonymously to minority students last weekend. The letters, discovered Saturday morning in the mailboxes of 15 minority law students at Boalt Hall, denounced affirmative action and included derogatory racial slurs toward blacks, Latinos and Asian Americans. "When I see you in class, it bugs the hell out of me because your (sic) taking the seat of someone qualified," the unsigned flyers read.

The public universities of California, Texas and Florida, whose "race-neutral" admissions policies were applauded by President Bush this week, are notable for their efforts to achieve the goals of affirmative action -- racial diversity -- without actually using affirmative action. The president's endorsement means that they are sure to be studied closely as the issue returns to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Five hunger strikers demanding that the University of California restore and expand affirmative action programs remained camped out at UC Irvine on Saturday as officials there did nothing to enforce the previous night's deadline for them to leave. The five hunger strikers, who today enter the 13th day of a fast in which they are consuming only liquids, had signed an agreement with UCI officials allowing them to camp in front of the main administration building until midnight Friday.