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Article: Affirmative action and the "dilemma of the qualified." (excerpt from 'The Rage of a Privileged Class') (Book Excerpt)
- Article from:
- Black Enterprise
- Article date:
- October 1, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 Earl G. Graves Publishing Co., Inc. 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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WHEN THE TALK TURNS TO affirmative action, I often recall a conversation [with] a young white man, a Harvard student and the brother of a close friend [who] happened to be in Washington when the Supreme Court ruled on an affirmative action question.
He was not only troubled but choleric at the very notion that "unqualified minorities" would dare to demand preferential treatment. Why, he wanted to know, couldn't they compete like everyone else? Why should hardworking whites like himself be pushed aside for second-rate affirmative action hires? Why should he be discriminated against in order to accommodate them?
It seemed more than a bit hypocritical of ...