Affirmative action's time not yet passed

Though hopefully minority scholarships -- like Tufts' new Karen Pritzker fund -- will not be necessary in the future, for the time being they serve an important and appropriate role. Opponents of affirmative action often take the high moral ground, arguing that society should be completely color-blind. Groups like the Center for Equal Opportunity (CEO) believe that when a university distinguishes students by race, it is engaging in exactly the sort of discrimination it seeks to eradicate.

While one must admire the CEO's optimism and commitment to equality, the group has simply missed the boat. CEO Vice President Roger Clegg argues that programs like the Pritzker fund are "unfair, divisive, silly, and illegal." The result is a system that is not open to all, he argues. His observations are accurate; however it seems Clegg skipped his US history courses. He fails to acknowledge that American history is filled with governmental and societal policies that were unfair, divisive, silly, and illegal.

These policies resulted in a society that was exclusive of many -- and the excluded were rarely white. And one does not have to dredge up ancient history to find these examples. Even the policies of the last 50 years have had serious effects for many minorities. Any student of US social history or urban politics knows the disastrous impact mainstream policies like red-lining, redistricting, segregation, ghetto-creation, and workplace discrimination had on minorities. When indirect factors, such as poverty and lower levels of access to education are factored in, the problem becomes even more severe.

Affirmative action programs are the first, however flawed, steps towards rectifying these wrongs and attempting to bring those who were excluded back into mainstream society. The Pritzker fund admirably addresses a serious problem in some university affirmative action programs by stipulating that an eligible student also be financially needy. Many have understandably expressed outrage when a well-off minority receives special treatment simply for being a minority. The goal of affirmative action programs should be to reduce the economic and social gap of minorities when compared to whites.

In the end, since Tufts' financial aid is entirely need-based, the Pritzker fund will only serve to increase the total amount of money available to everyone. Money for needy minority students that used to come from the general pot will now partially come from the Pritzker fund. This, in turn, will free up monies for everybody.

No one is arguing that affirmative action is a perfect system. It attempts to correct for previous discrimination by discriminating against someone else. But society would be remiss in simply "moving on" and ignoring the lasting effects of the historical hardships it has placed on many minority groups.

Ultimately, we all hope that Clegg's altruistic vision of a color-blind society will be realized. It is a goal shared by most people who support affirmative action and groups like the CEO. But a small dose of reality is all it takes to realize that we've got a long way to go.