Yeah! What David said. And.....

I am a firm believer in the constitution of our individual intangible qualities being essential to the creation and implementation of the rules that govern our society. Anyone unfamiliar with the Supreme Court's decision today on the issue of affirmative action can read about it here:

High Court Has Split Decision on Affirmative Action


It is important that we recognize that this decision put an end to the University of Michigan's practice of adding points (20 or 1/5 of those) needed to earn admission into the institution to an individual's score if they were considered to be belonging to a racial minority. It is also important to note that they saw fit to allow the practice of giving significant consideration to a student's racial identity during the admissions process.

The spirit of this ideology seems to originate from a belief that the circumstances for each individual vary significantly based upon their racial identity, and an unfair advantage exists for non-minority applicants. It is as if parts of our society (specifically it's highest court) has learned nothing from the Jason Blair debacle, and see fit to perpetuate a perception of victimization among certain individuals. Do you remember learning of an individual or group being attacked for a belief that one group of people is somehow inferior to another group based solely on the color of their skin?

From Webster's:

Main Entry: rac·ism
Pronunciation: 'rA-"si-z&m also -"shi-
Function: noun
Date: 1936
1 : a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race
2 : racial prejudice or discrimination

If you had a list of groups who perpetuated systematic racism in mind, you might want to ad the proponents of affirmative action to the list. What disappoints me more than the decisions are some of the individuals who supported them. This "Right Wing Wacko" sees a few high profile advocates of a dogma similar to my own abandoning fundamental principles by endorsing today's Supreme Court decisions.

Diversity is the often cited goal of those perpetuating race-based legislation like affirmative action. Diversity is indeed desirable. But once again, we become focused (almost solely) on each individual's skin pigmentation in order decide whether our educational institutions are "diversified".

I find it interesting that there are criteria associated with the physical traits of an individual being used to determine admission into an institution created to enrich the mind.

I'd like to thank Tim for adding me to his crew, and I hope you've enjoyed my first submission to Four Right Wing Wackos.

The Valiant Elephant