Last night I did a post from an African American perspective about white privilege here in A-merry-ca. Tonight, I want to give you another point of view. Jim Webb is the dumbocratic senator from Virgina, and he has some interesting things to say about affirmative action and the perception of white privilege here in A-merry-ca.
This was Jim writing in the Wall Street Journal:
"Forty years ago, as the United States experienced the civil rights movement, the supposed monolith of White Anglo-Saxon Protestant dominance served as the whipping post for almost every debate about power and status in America. After a full generation of such debate, WASP elites have fallen by the wayside and a plethora of government-enforced diversity policies have marginalized many white workers. The time has come to cease the false arguments and allow every American the benefit of a fair chance at the future.
I have dedicated my political career to bringing fairness to America's economic system and to our work force, regardless of what people look like or where they may worship. Unfortunately, present-day diversity programs work against that notion, having expanded so far beyond their original purpose that they now favor anyone who does not happen to be white."
The "supposed monolith"? Hmmm. OK, let me read on:
"In an odd historical twist that all Americans see but few can understand, many programs allow recently arrived immigrants to move ahead of similarly situated whites whose families have been in the country for generations. These programs have damaged racial harmony. And the more they have grown, the less they have actually helped African-Americans, the intended beneficiaries of affirmative action as it was originally conceived.
How so?"
Jim, do you really care about African Americans? (Who we all agree that many of these programs should be benefiting, and not newly arriving immigrants.) Or is it the "similarly situated" white families you are worried about?
"The injustices endured by black Americans at the hands of their own government have no parallel in our history, not only during the period of slavery but also in the Jim Crow era that followed. But the extrapolation of this logic to all "people of color"—especially since 1965, when new immigration laws dramatically altered the demographic makeup of the U.S.—moved affirmative action away from remediation and toward discrimination, this time against whites. It has also lessened the focus on assisting African-Americans, who despite a veneer of successful people at the very top still experience high rates of poverty, drug abuse, incarceration and family breakup.
Those who came to this country in recent decades from Asia, Latin America and Africa did not suffer discrimination from our government, and in fact have frequently been the beneficiaries of special government programs. The same cannot be said of many hard-working white Americans, including those whose roots in America go back more than 200 years.
Contrary to assumptions in the law, white America is hardly a monolith. And the journey of white American cultures is so diverse (yes) that one strains to find the logic that could lump them together for the purpose of public policy. " [Article]
Well, actually Jim, there is one thing that makes "white America a monolith"; the color of their skin. But I see where you are going with this: A-mery-cans should reap the benefit of their own government's programs, first.
Since you have discovered that white folks need affirmative action, I wonder how many of your white brethren who despise affirmative action are now ready to change their position? And Jim, what about the role of gender in affirmative action? Have you ever considered how many women benefited from it? Look Jim, I am glad that you decided to wade into the racial minefield which is strewn across A-merry-ca, but you can just jump in without your mine detectors.
Oh, and Jim, before I forget, I have a question for you: Did you vote for the black farmers to be compensated for all the pain and suffering they went through? It's a sad day, Jim. The senate voted to strip the legal settlement for black farmers from the war bill. A billion plus dollars to poor black farmers and their families. I guess this Shirley Sherrod thing pissed off conservatives more than we thought.
"The time has come to cease the false arguments and allow every American the benefit of a fair chance at the future."
This was Jim writing in the Wall Street Journal:
"Forty years ago, as the United States experienced the civil rights movement, the supposed monolith of White Anglo-Saxon Protestant dominance served as the whipping post for almost every debate about power and status in America. After a full generation of such debate, WASP elites have fallen by the wayside and a plethora of government-enforced diversity policies have marginalized many white workers. The time has come to cease the false arguments and allow every American the benefit of a fair chance at the future.
I have dedicated my political career to bringing fairness to America's economic system and to our work force, regardless of what people look like or where they may worship. Unfortunately, present-day diversity programs work against that notion, having expanded so far beyond their original purpose that they now favor anyone who does not happen to be white."
The "supposed monolith"? Hmmm. OK, let me read on:
"In an odd historical twist that all Americans see but few can understand, many programs allow recently arrived immigrants to move ahead of similarly situated whites whose families have been in the country for generations. These programs have damaged racial harmony. And the more they have grown, the less they have actually helped African-Americans, the intended beneficiaries of affirmative action as it was originally conceived.
How so?"
Jim, do you really care about African Americans? (Who we all agree that many of these programs should be benefiting, and not newly arriving immigrants.) Or is it the "similarly situated" white families you are worried about?
"The injustices endured by black Americans at the hands of their own government have no parallel in our history, not only during the period of slavery but also in the Jim Crow era that followed. But the extrapolation of this logic to all "people of color"—especially since 1965, when new immigration laws dramatically altered the demographic makeup of the U.S.—moved affirmative action away from remediation and toward discrimination, this time against whites. It has also lessened the focus on assisting African-Americans, who despite a veneer of successful people at the very top still experience high rates of poverty, drug abuse, incarceration and family breakup.
Those who came to this country in recent decades from Asia, Latin America and Africa did not suffer discrimination from our government, and in fact have frequently been the beneficiaries of special government programs. The same cannot be said of many hard-working white Americans, including those whose roots in America go back more than 200 years.
Contrary to assumptions in the law, white America is hardly a monolith. And the journey of white American cultures is so diverse (yes) that one strains to find the logic that could lump them together for the purpose of public policy. " [Article]
Well, actually Jim, there is one thing that makes "white America a monolith"; the color of their skin. But I see where you are going with this: A-mery-cans should reap the benefit of their own government's programs, first.
Since you have discovered that white folks need affirmative action, I wonder how many of your white brethren who despise affirmative action are now ready to change their position? And Jim, what about the role of gender in affirmative action? Have you ever considered how many women benefited from it? Look Jim, I am glad that you decided to wade into the racial minefield which is strewn across A-merry-ca, but you can just jump in without your mine detectors.
Oh, and Jim, before I forget, I have a question for you: Did you vote for the black farmers to be compensated for all the pain and suffering they went through? It's a sad day, Jim. The senate voted to strip the legal settlement for black farmers from the war bill. A billion plus dollars to poor black farmers and their families. I guess this Shirley Sherrod thing pissed off conservatives more than we thought.
"The time has come to cease the false arguments and allow every American the benefit of a fair chance at the future."
Yep.
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