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Saturday, June 07, 2003"A Lengthy Rambling Post on Affirmative Action" I spent last night drinking bourbon and watching TV with the Old Man. No, not my dad, just some Old Man I met at the Walmart. I think he was a greeter or something. We have a great relationship. I do sweaty, shirtless yardwork for him, he shows me old 1950s gladiator movies. He offers me a mysterious beverage, I pass out and remember nothing; it's synergy, it's quite special. Er, okay, I lied. I was drinking and watching TV with my dad. And before you get any ideas for an episode of Law & Order: SVU, no gladiator movies were involved. While waiting for the basketball game to start, Dad flipped over to NBC Dateline. "Hey, it's the University of Michigan library," I said. And it was. They were running a piece on the affirmative action debate. Oh joy. As a recent (2000) UM alumnus, I think it's obvious that the "race-based affirmative action improves diversity" argument is not valid. This is for two reasons. First of all, the bulk of minority students were self-segregating: the Asians hung around with other Asians, the blacks with other blacks, etc. I didn't acquire profound life experiences by spending time with other cultures, not because I was a racist asshole, but because people of other cultures didn't want to hang out with a white dude. For example, one year I was working on a group project with an Indian girl (from India, not Native American) and we were walking though central campus. Another Indian student came up to us and they had a heated exchange in their native language. She told me that she had to go, see you later, that sort of thing. I pressed a bit about what he had said, and she told me that it wasn't acceptable for Indian girls to be seen with white men; she had to go lest she be outcast by her fellow Indian students. I was stunned, especially because this girl was very "Americanized"-- she loved our pop culture, had a nose ring, etc. Not exactly a conservative, stay-true-to-your-ethnic-roots type. I also had a black girl who turned me down for a date because of what her friends might say. (However, I'm not sure if this was due to racism or due to the fact that I'm a dork and she needed an excuse.) This "Stay away from Whitey" attitude was especially true of foreign exchange students, and minorities who came to UM from non-integrated neighborhoods (like Detroit). Now you may be asking: Although these students didn't interact with whites socially, surely their input in class discussions taught you about the minority experience in America, right? Um, no. Most required courses at Michigan are 200 person lectures, and smaller group seminar -type classes are only within your major. Many of these self-segregating students majored in African American Studies, Asian Studies, Latino Studies, etc.-- not exactly hotbeds of multiethnic interaction. That's not to say that all minority students were like that; I spent time with several minority friends. The difference was in class background, which leads me to my next point. The most important reason "diversity" is not a good argument for affirmative action is because UM defines "diversity" as being synonymous with skin color. The minority friends I made in school were all middle or upper-middle class, mostly sons of doctors or dentists. I had one black friend whose mother was the Attorney General of the state of Indiana; he even had photos of himself with the Clintons at a Democratic party fundraiser. I didn't get a lot of new "cultural knowledge" out of these relationships because these guys had the same experiences as I did, similar educational backgrounds, similar tastes in music and televison. If anything, I was the anomaly because their parents were much wealthier than mine. It didn't matter if my friends were black or white or purple polkadot (though that would have been pretty cool to look at); in terms of "diversity," I learned next to nothing. By contrast, I did learn a bit from the white kids who came from tiny rural communities or from poor families. One guy came from a tiny redneck town where he lived a block away from the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan. One girl came from a poverty-stricken, abusive household and was trying to overcome a host of emotional problems. One of my friends came from a single-parent working-class background, but he and his brother worked hard at school and did volunteer work for the Emergency Medical Service and Fire Department to get the experience that would ensure them scholarships to reputable medical schools. These are the conversations that influenced me the most, not cracking jokes from Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure while playing Sega Genesis with a wealthy buddy who happened to be Asian. And that's the problem with affirmative action in a nutshell (Now available from O'Reilly publishing!). Opportunity today is mainly based on socio-economic background: a stable family situation, where you went to highschool, the people your parents know, etc. I wouldn't mind affirmative action were it based on giving the poor a better chance to get into college and improve their lives. But basing affirmative action only on the color of one's skin is, well, racist. Only a fool would think that white-on-minority racism doesn't exist anymore, but race is no longer the prohibitive factor it used to be. We no longer have "Negros and Chinamen need not apply" signs. An Asian can become a doctor, a Hispanic can become an executive, an African-American can become the Attorney General of the state of Indiana. We don't need race-based affirmative action; we could get a more intellectually diverse student body-- and society-- if we instead concentrate on helping the poor of all races who haven't yet realized the American Dream. Which involves watching "Fear Factor" on the back seat entertainment center of a Ford Explorer while eating overpriced fast food and drinking watery American beer, but that's a topic for another day. posted by Nate on 7:27 PM link Friday, June 06, 2003The Wall Street Journal 's Collin Levey discusses the effect of Internet criticism on Howell Raines' resignation: The Web's greatest strength is its ability to saturate any topic, providing endless reading material for monomaniacs to follow their pet issues. Late last year, Trent Lott's comments on Strom Thurmond's birthday saw much the same trajectory. Hounded by the blogs and other media for remarks perceived to be racist, Mr. Lott was forced to step down by a story that in another age he might have been able to ride out. This process has allowed more voices into the mainstream (much to the old media's chagrin, the formerly excluded voices are often conservative). It has also given voice to publications and pundits outside the media mainstream who aren't privy to the establishment's sense of the acceptable limits of self-criticism. posted by Nate on 3:24 PM link We must be diligent today. To wait until tomorrow is too late. Death comes unexpectedly. How can we bargain with it? --Buddha My name's Nate, and I'm a blog update procrastinator. Two days, and all I've written is one lousy paragraph. Twenty seven words. Slacker. I have lots of things to write about, but neither the time to write nor the discipline to make time. I have no idea how Lileks knocks out a Bleat every day, since he has more job-related deadlines and one more child than I do (at least, that I know of, heh heh). At least I feel regret, and regret is the first step toward changing your behavior, at least according to Planescape: Torment, and that game was pretty spank-ass. Twenty seven words. I promise I'll do better next week (on the daily blogging thing, not on the having more children than Lileks thing). posted by Nate on 12:03 AM link Thursday, June 05, 2003I am both shocked and awed. Howell Raines resigned from the New York Times, for obvious reasons. Fact checked by the Internet; Blogosphere 1, Old Media 0. posted by Nate on 9:05 PM link Tuesday, June 03, 2003Sammy Sosa has been berry berry bad. He was ejected from tonight's game for using a corked bat. Against the Devil Rays, of all teams. According to Harold Reynolds, Sammy will hold a press conference in which he'll explain that he uses the bat in home run hitting exhibitions and batting practice, and it somehow got mixed in with his game bats. This has nothing to do with the fact he's been hurt for a month, and since returning to the lineup has struck out more times than me on a Friday night at Corby's Tavern. Say it ain't so, Sammy. Hopefully he'll get suspended for the Yankees series so I can afford a ticket for Saturday. Last check had them going for several hundred dollars, which I most definitely do not have. UPDATE: While watching his postgame interview on Baseball Tonight, it hit me: Sammy has been sporting a freshly grown goatee this week. Following the Star Trek Facial Hair Theorem, he must be Evil Sammy Sosa from an alternate dimension. That explains the gimp toe, the strikeouts, the corked bat, and everything. Of course, in the Alternate Dimension the Cubs have won every World Series since 1957, and the Yankees suffer from the Curse of Wally Pipp. posted by Nate on 10:51 PM link I've been reading websites and watching a lot of TV to find out more about the Rick Carlisle situation. Apparently there have been problems between the coach and the team owner over the past two years. I don't know the specifics (let me know if you happen across any), but Carlisle likely wouldn't be retained after his contract ran out next season. With Larry Brown and other top-notch coaches available this offseason, they decided to address the situation now instead of later. Still seems odd though. posted by Nate on 4:23 PM link Monday, June 02, 2003When I returned, I discoved that the Pistons have inexplicabley fired coach Rick Carlisle, who took them from a laughingstock to the Eastern Conference Finals. They are expected to name Larry Brown head coach later this week. I like Brown, but WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? Carlisle gets the most out of his players every night, and his defense-first philosophy is perfect for Ben Wallace et. al. He is a great young coach, while Brown is a great old coach with great coaching-job wanderlust. I wouldn't be surprised if, in a few years, he leaves Detroit to go back to L.A., this time with the Lakers. Maybe the team feels he can mentor Rip Hamilton and turn him into an Iverson-like player, or maybe there are "philosophical differences" between Carlisle and the team over the upcoming NBA Draft or a blockbuster trade (Chauncey Billups and Hamilton for Kevin Garnett? Billups for Andre Miller?). Rick Carlisle: fired. Sketch factor: high. posted by Nate on 1:22 AM link Yankees Suck I just got back, after the excitement of David Wells' 192nd career victory! Shoddy defense and a weak bullpen blew a 7 - 1 Yankee lead in the fifth against the worst hitting team in recent memory. At least I got to see a 17 inning game. And a knuckleballer (Steve Sparks). Also, it was picture day at the ballpark, so I got to frolic around on the field and had my picture taken with Dmitri Young. But Clemens did not win 300. And so, after years of defending the Yankees against the "Kansas City should be in the World Series even though they spend next to nothing on their players" crowd, I have come to the conclusion that the New York Yankees suck. They tantalize you like the Seinfeld Soup Nazi. "You want Roger Clemens' 300th? No! No history for you!" And to top it all off, they still won the ballgame-- of course! --, so we couldn't even say we witnessed two straight Tiger victories. Frickin' Yankees. You suck indeed. The night before, we saw the Detroit Shock - Charlotte Sting WNBA opener, which was surprisingly fun. Lots of fan energy and a pretty good quality of basketball. I loved it and will definitely go back. Gambling and Canada also figured in the weekend. I'll do a full writeup later. P.S. In case you haven't been paying attention, the Yankees Suck. posted by Nate on 12:32 AM link
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your stolen base are belong to Rickey Henderson. Questions or comments? Email nate@swankypimp.com |
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