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I hope this isn't true. But not being of African descent, I cannot comment. And if it is true, then AA likely won't help because of the associated stigmatization that invariably comes with AA, which, of course, only feeds the perception of being less than one "is".
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I don’t think the stigmatization is inevitable here. I think it comes because people are generally too heartless and selfish to see a picture bigger than themselves. I nevertheless understand that with a population as large as America’s, and as detached from history as most Americans are, expecting the public to be philosophical enough to identify with this issue is just a pipe-dream. I have severe suspicions of AA for these reasons. I nevertheless wish to keep it because, though it likely at best has only a marginal effect on solving the general problems you’ve mentioned, I think it is clear that it at least helps certain individuals who have proven themselves capable of doing well.</p>
<p>I guess my desire here is to give people who have endured negative conditioning a reason to question whether what they perceive is in fact the way things really are. If a kid from such an heritage tries, perhaps on a lark, to do well academically and succeeds, but does not continue to acquire the incentives to continue onward because the numbers of competing kids performing equally are too many, I think his negative conditioning will take over. In fact, I have seen this very many times and have even suffered it myself. I have no doubt at all that many black kids who deign to fantasize about engaging in some traditionally non-black pursuit, have been told even by their own families that such things are ridiculous, or that they are “white”, or a waste of time. When these kids try and then fail because their opponents are better equipped, less historically burdened and therefore psychologically freer to absorb risk, the black kids are ridiculed onto the ground! In many cases, they simply never get up again. I think AA helps alleviate some of this by opening and then highlighting (with a big metaphorical marker) the door of opportunity for the precious few black kids who are willing to experiment despite history.</p>
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But AA really doesn't matter anyway - keep it, get rid of it, it doesn't matter so long as the achievement gap is a great as it is. That, and not how much AA is practiced or implemented, is the big problem in a competitive, global, economy.
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Absolutely. The thing that keeps hammering me is the fact that the world is not gonna slow down just because blacks incurred some major setbacks. I don’t even want it to work like this because I think with a few major adjustments, blacks can compete with all comers without much problem. There is no need for charity, and I don’t think it breeds a good fighting spirit anyway. But in the meantime, it is pretty hard for me to see so many bright kids getting trashed while we try to figure out how to solve the problem. </p>
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I actually favor concrete solutions. And the incredible preponderance of single mother homes in black and hispanic communities has to have (and does) and incredibly negative effect on academic performance. The fact that the Thernstroms go to great lengths to point makes them pariahs among liberal academics. But common sense makes it clear. And a public policy that disincents single motherhood sure makes sense to me.
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Depends upon the policy. If we pass policies that are traditionally passed by people who say stuff like ‘we gotta “deincentivize” single parenthood’, we are just gonna do what we’ve always done, which is to just dump on and marginalize members of our society who by and large are really just trying to get by the best way they can. I don’t really think we can legislate this thing away, though thoughtful policy can help.</p>