Each spring, as acceptances and rejections roll into the mailboxes of hopeful students across the country, a debate over affirmative action seems to heat up. White students with hurt prides and a robust sense of entitlement begin to grumble about the supposed unfairness of the policy, and public awareness is usually heightened.
This spring at UB, it's an especially relevant issue. A great crusader for equity, specifically through affirmative action, passed away. The loss of Loyce Stewart is a blow to the campus, not only for those who knew her and enjoyed her company but also for everyone interested in fairness and diversity in the halls of UB.
I interviewed Stewart two years ago, when the Supreme Court was considering an affirmative action case and public debate was intense. She explained why UB uses affirmative action, and to what extent.
"We have to make sure we spread our net far and wide, but we have no quota system in admissions for students or hiring of employees," she said. "Everyone at UB is here because they are qualified."
That's the key point that opponents of affirmative action policies overlook - affirmative action is not about quotas or admissions based only on race.
It's about acknowledging the inequalities that exist in our country, and making sure such unfairness is not reinforced when we admit to schools, provide jobs, or otherwise create opportunities.
The ugly fact of the matter is that funding per student in inner-city school districts, heavily populated by minority students, is less than half of what is spent in rich white suburban school districts.
The ugly fact is that the playing field for minorities in America is not even. They are not paid as much as whites in the same positions and are routinely subject to various forms of racism, overt and subtle.
As long as social injustices and inequalities such as this exist, policies like affirmative action will be needed. Rejected white students have no right to complain about being disadvantaged in admissions or hiring, because they were likely the beneficiaries of unfair advantages already.
Michael Eric Dyson framed the debate perfectly when he spoke during the Distinguished Speakers Series recently.
Dyson began by talking about white students who automatically assume people of color are sitting with them in class because of affirmative action.
We see that here on our campus - last year the College Republicans held an "Affirmative Action Bake Sale," where treats were available at higher prices to white students than minorities, insinuating that things are unfairly rough on us white students.
Dyson pointed out that instead of turning to minority students and asking with a raised eyebrow "how did you get here?" people should turn to those such as the College Republicans and ask the same question.
If many of the organizers of the "Affirmative Action Bake Sale" didn't come from well-to-do suburban neighborhoods and have educated parents who supported their academic endeavors, would they be here? That's the real question.
To say affirmative action isn't necessary is to say racism and inequality don't exist in America. Someday that will hopefully be true, but evidence that we're not there yet is seen every day.
It was seen prominently in the pages of this paper, not long ago. Around the same time I was writing my story on affirmative action, a Spectrum columnist attacked affirmative action as "a guilt trip on middle-class white Americans," and unnecessary because race "has ceased to be an issue."
When a black student wrote into the paper criticizing the column, the editors broke with precedent and did not edit the letter for spelling or grammar. The Spectrum always corrects spelling errors in letters to the editor, but in this case misspellings were printed as is, with a (sic) notation afterwards. Clearly the editors were trying to make the student look ignorant - here was another undeserving beneficiary of affirmative action.
The actions of The Spectrum offended me at the time, and offend me now. The episode proved exactly the need for affirmative action. The way that letter was edited, although intending to prove affirmative action was unnecessary and even harmful, proved exactly the opposite.
Racism is alive in America, and we need to acknowledge that and try to fix inequalities through policies like affirmative action.
There was broad dialogue at UB over that column and affirmative action in general. The NAACP on campus held a forum, and a wide array of people wrote into the paper defending the policy.
Without people like Loyce Stewart advocating for a diverse and fair UB, there would have been no such dialogue. To Stewart, and to policies that ensure equitable hiring and diversity, we owe a large debt.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
