I am an Affirmative Action baby. Long Island Newsday paid my college tuition, in part, because of the color of my skin. It was my chocolate hue, too, that opened wide the door for my first job out of college, as a reporter for The Associated Press. I tell you these things because the Supreme Court will rule any day now on whether public universities can consider an applicant’s race in their admissions policies, changing the landscape of Affirmative Action. And as the discourse on the subject intensifies in anticipation of the ruling, I’ve grown mad tired of the chatter.
Chatter about exactly what Affirmative Action does.
Chatter about whom it’s helped and who it’s affected.
And especially the chatter about how awful and ineffective it is.
I readily raise my hand to say that those who argue against it are either clueless, blind or straight lying about how Affirmative Action affects mainstream America (read: White folks), and certainly how it changes classrooms, our workforce and lives.
