(Accepted everywhere In America without question ! Ifthe RaceCard Is denied, we will refuse to stay quiet
and we will riot- Jesse)
CULTURAL AFFIRMATIVE-ACTION
By Selwyn Duke
March 27, 2008
NewsWithViews.com
In a way, I prefer the old, overt affirmative action. While it
was government-sanctioned discrimination, at least it was, in
some measure, more honest than our cultural affirmative
action. There is such a thing. It's when people in the market
and media privilege others - sometimes unconsciously - based
upon the latter's identification with a "victim group."
This phenomenon is what Geraldine Ferraro referred to
recently when she addressed Barack Obama's meteoric
political rise and said, "If Obama was a white man, he
would not be in this position." Pundits have condemned
her for this unfashionable utterance, but it's no insight. It's
a truth hiding in plain sight.
What do you think Bill Clinton was referring to when he
said that he wanted his cabinet to "look like America,"
meritocracy or quota orthodoxy? Yet Clinton isn't alone; he
merely gave voice to common practice. Would Condoleezza
Rice have been appointed Secretary of State and Joycelyn
Elders (the poster girl for AA) Surgeon General if they
weren't black women? Would Ruth Bader Ginsberg and
Sandra Day O'Connor have ascended to the Supreme
Court and Janet Reno been Attorney General if they
weren't female? And, as Ferraro noted herself, she would
never have been the 1984 vice-presidential candidate
but for her fairer-sex status.
Cultural affirmative action manifests itself in all arenas, not
just politics. A perfect example is Michelle Wie, the female
golfer who set her sights on tackling the men's tour. Based
mainly on braggadocio and a fawning media bent on
portraying her as an Amazon golfer who would teach the
boys a lesson or two, she was granted entry into numerous
PGA tournaments, even though untold numbers of male
golfers were more deserving. Of course, some will point
out that she is quite gifted. Others will say that the
market spoke.
That is my point.
Sure, Wie is no duffer, just as the other folks I mentioned
have their talents; Ginsberg, O'Connor and Reno know
how to negotiate the law, Rice and Ferraro understand
politics and Elders can provide comic relief. Yet ability
wasn't the factor most relevant to their rise. As for the
market, that is precisely the entity that effects cultural
affirmative action. People glommed onto Wie at least
partially because they believe that breaking down sex
barriers is healthy and that her success would have
represented another step forward in female/male
equality. Cognizant of this "market," politicians, media
outlets, and others know that if their hires and appointees
don't "look like America," America - or at least its squeakiest
wheels - will look at them with suspicion.
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