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Article: EXAMINING THE LONGTIME COSTS OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION.(MAIN)
- Article from:
- Albany Times Union (Albany, NY)
- Article date:
- June 7, 1996
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Albany Times Union. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Thomas Sowell
After years of doing research on affirmative action, both in the United States and overseas, I have finally come to question whether all this work was necessary, since so few people seem to care what the actual consequences of preferences and quotas are.
Affirmative action has become a symbolic issue, a test of whether you are for ``us'' or ``them.'' Polarization is one of the high costs of preferential programs around the world. It has turned a nation once renowned for its harmonious group relations -- Sri Lanka -- into a nation first torn apart by mob violence and then by a civil war that has been going on for decades now.