We Still Need Affirmative Action

You are a New York City taxicab driver, a very dangerous profession in our society. A young African American male hails you late at night. You observe the male’s clothing and decide that this may be trouble. Despite your obligation to pick him up, you drive on. Was your decision to racially discriminate a significant one? Dinesh D’ Souza, a former editor of The university newspaper, does not seem to think so. In his recent visit to the campus and in a debate over affirmative action, D’Souza asserted that racism, although it may still exist, is no longer holding back the African American community and is not a justification for affirmative action.

As D’Souza writes in his book, The End of Racism, “Racism undoubtedly exists, but it no longer has the power to thwart blacks or any other grouping achieving their economic, political, and social aspirations. It cannot be denied that African Americans suffer the slights in terms of taxi drivers who pass them by, pedestrians who treat them as a security risk, banks that are reluctant to invest in black neighborhoods, and other forms of continued discrimination.” Mr. D’Souza, although he may not realize it, has pinpointed the importance that race still plays in our society. Race matters. It matters to the taxicab driver who sees a young black male as a mugger; to the cop who assumes that a black male in a nice car is the likely perpetrator of a crime; to the shopkeeper who follows the minority around the store.

These are not minor inconveniences. These are barriers to opportunity. Mr. D’Souza argues that the taxicab driver who drives away is playing the odds in his favor. Why? Because the taxicab driver has incomplete information. The cabbie i…

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…ight choose not to question a number of things. D’Souza does not realize the fundamental truth of his own conclusions; that his life experiences were essential to his perspective.

We, the students of univeristy, are here to learn. The pedagogical framework that is the college learning environment is principally built on the intellectual and social interactions of the student body. We learn from each other.

We learn when what we believe based on our experience conflicts with the perspective of another. We learn when those who have been treated differently question our assumptions. In this learning, in the classroom and outside, race matters. Experience is fundamentally altered by race. In an academic community that looks to learn, diversity of race is essential. Dinesh D’Souza is wrong: race still matters. There is still justification for affirmative action.