Noel S. Williams – It’s almost laughable, but whenever I turn on my TV, I’m confronted by an alternate reality: white males are dotards, whereas minorities, seemingly the majority in every commercial, are practically perfect. Maybe that’s true in the White House, but not at large. This representation of minorities as over-achieving heroes may assuage DIE sensibilities, but it will not narrow the persistent achievement gaps.
In the movie Being There, Peter Sellers plays Chance (Chauncey) Gardiner. Chauncey has connections, is presentable, and dons nice clothes. He is also really stupid, which may be why the intelligentsia hang on his every word. His “wisdom” comes from two endeavors: gardening and watching TV. Actually, TV so represents his reality that if he were watching today, he’d presume that white people, especially males, are a bumbling minority. Continue reading
Robert A. Taft – In the late 1960s, affirmative action was advanced because women and minorities, with similar skills to those of White men, were being discriminated against in landing jobs. The object of affirmative action was to level the playing field for people with similar skill levels. Over the years studies have shown that women actually have benefited most from affirmative action, not African Americans.