Is Obama against affirmative action? What does the author mean by Obama's "questioning"? What is Obama's straight answer - is he opposed to or does he support the continuation of affirmative action?
Or, like many pols, is Obama trying to occupy both sides of an issue?
Good questions Oohrah, let me see if I can answer them to your satisfaction.
First, and I'm not being evasive, its not a simple yes or no question. I think the fact that Obama has lived the life he has shows that seeking out diversity helps our society if competence isn't also sacrificed. I think the answer depends upon the situation. If there has been no historically verifiable history of discrimination attached to any particular endeavor, then there is no need for preferential treatment. Conversely, if minorities have been purposely excluded based on non-performance factors, then some remediation is called for to balance the inequity without sacrificing quality.
In my opinion, the problem with AA has always been that the individuals receiving preferential treatment didn't have to first prove exceptionality beyond mere competence, the first lucky stiff in line got the break regardless of whether he or she was up to the task. Now, I say this next point with deference to standardized measures because we know cultural bias creeps into the most sincere efforts to measure anything. My point is that the people choosing the candidates who will receive an assist from the past sins of others should still have to compete against other peers, and the strongest candidates will emerge. Mere race or gender should never be enough to qualify for anything! Then we don't have the stereotypical result of an underqualified person taking the place of someone obviously with more skill and more potential that happens to be among the majority.
To me, this is the vein of Ridley's latter comment of "what's good for America is good for all of us". Black Americans realize that more harm is done when unprepared individuals are chosen to fill defacto quotas while being ill-equipped for the job. Frankly if one wanted, and argument could be made that this is precisely what the majority wanted so they'd be able to kill the idea of AA once and for all by pointing to decreased productivity and lessor bottom lines. The only problem was that far too many chosen by race or gender were not only qualified, they became stars in their own rights and actually changed the corporate culture by paving the way for others just like themselves who came on board later: those ready and willing to excell in the tasks at hand and compete equally and successfully with their majority co-workers.
