Re: prop 2: I posted this on a forum that attracts freepers

Does anyone here really know the details about how affirmative action works in the real world?

It is not in the least about putting "unqualified" minorities into jobs. In fact, it's very rarely about hiring at all. And it's usually not about race, either.

Most of what I have seen is about access to education and training for people who ARE qualified, but who have had the deck stacked against them.

In some cases, it involves giving people extra help so that they can BECOME qualified for further training. Often, it's just about targeting certain groups for mentoring and other services.

I mean, look: You say "why search grandma when we all KNOW the terrorists are young Muslim men?" The same thing can be turned around in terms of helping those who actually need help.

Why focus special services equally on the affluent suburbs when we know that young, African American boys are, in many ways, most in need of intervention?

And why the heck NOT organize a few all-girls math camps? After all we all KNOW that societal pressure encourages girls to lose interest in math when they aren't encouraged.

What's wrong with that kind of thing? How does that take anything away from anyone else?

Another thing:

In the real world, there rarely is a rigid definition of the word "qualified."

In college admissions, for example, "qualified" is already a very subjective thing. Kids with lower test scores can get in because their parents were alumni, or because they wrote a tear-jerker essay, because they were in the drama club and not the football team (or vice versa), or any number of other reasons.

In job situations, being the "most qualified" can mean being someone your boss likes best. Or, being someone who might bring a different perspective to the table.

Do you think UM just picks black kids at random and lets them in? No. Those who get extra consideration based on their backgrounds (and then get in) are admitted because they are deemed to have a good chance of success. They are, in a word, qualified. And part of what makes them qualified is that they bring another point of view into the student population.