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11 Misconceptions About Affirmative Action

affirmative-action-color-blindThe Only Way to Create A Colorblind Society is to Adopt Colorblind Policies

Although this statement sounds intuitively plausible, the reality is that colorblind policies often put racial minorities at a disadvantage. For instance, all else being equal, colorblind seniority systems tend to protect white workers against job layoffs, because senior employees are usually white.

Likewise, colorblind college admissions favor white students because of their earlier educational advantages. Unless pre-existing inequities are corrected or otherwise taken into account, colorblind policies do not correct racial injustice — they reinforce it.

affimative-actionAffirmative Action is No Longer Necessary

Black Americans continue to have twice the unemployment rate of  whites; twice the rate of infant mortality; and, relative to their population size, a significantly lower percentage of students attending four years or more of college. In fact without affirmative action programs, the number of Black students at many selective schools would drop to only 2 percent of the student body.

This would effectively choke off Black access to top universities and severely restrict progress toward racial equality.

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