Posted on: Friday, December 10, 2004

ISLAND VOICES
Affirmative action is beneficial to all of us

By David M. Forman
Attorney for Hawai'i Civil Rights Commission

The argument that affirmative action does more harm to its intended beneficiaries than good is tired, simplistic and divisive. Instead, the data show that these policies have been beneficial both for blacks and society as a whole.

Not surprisingly, opponents of affirmative action fail to offer any serious alternatives to remedy the evils of past discrimination.

From slavery and lynch mobs to voting rights abuses, employment discrimination and government-sponsored redlining, the lingering effects of racism cannot be ignored by anyone of good conscience.

Cliff Slater's column in The Advertiser ("Affirmative action has not served the U.S. well," Nov. 22), cites author Thomas Sowell for the unsupported conclusion that "the supposed benefits (of race-conscious programs) are only assumed and never tested or demonstrated."

However, in "The Shape of the River" (1998), William G. Bowen and Derek Bok analyzed the academic, employment and personal histories of more than 45,000 students of all races who attended academically selective universities between the 1970s and early 1990s.

This longitudinal study demonstrated how race-sensitive admissions policies at elite institutions have served disadvantaged communities (e.g., prompting beneficiaries of affirmative action to give back to their communities), improved our national economy, and leveled the social playing field.

The business and military leaders who submitted legal briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the University of Michigan's admissions policies made this point very clearly.

Slater also relies on a study by UCLA Professor Richard Sander to support Sowell's argument that blacks (and other minorities) are mismatched at elite educational institutions.

Sander predicts that there would be more black lawyers without affirmative action than there are with it. He acknowledges that some African-American students would no longer be admitted to law schools, but argues that more of those admitted would graduate and pass the bar, if admissions decisions were based solely on race-neutral criteria.

Critics have already begun to reveal the flawed reasoning used to support Sander's theories. He also systematically ignores data that contradicts his untenable assumptions. Analyzing the same data that Sander relies upon, his critics conclude that ending affirmative action would harm not only African-Americans seeking to be lawyers but also white students and the nation as a whole.

Sowell argues that "every evil of past generations and past centuries will remain indelibly and irrevocably evil, despite anything that we can do now. Acts of symbolic expiation among the living simply create new evils."

This fatalistic view merely reinforces the status quo, as opposed to the restorative justice principles discussed by authors like Professor Eric Yamamoto, of the William S. Richardson School of Law, in his book "Interracial Justice: Conflict & Reconciliation in Post-Civil Rights America." Addressing past racial injustices cannot be accomplished overnight, but the result will be worth the journey.

Sowell's cynicism is reflected further by his claim that "affirmative action and other government programs" have been "carefully cultivated by black politicians and civil rights leaders so as to solidify a constituency conditioned to be dependent on them, as well as on government."

I could not disagree more. For nearly 10 years as a volunteer member (now chairperson) of the Hawai'i Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and as a director of the Honolulu chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League, I have been inspired by the commitment and passion of the so-called "civil rights industry." I believe these advocates have given up more than they receive in order to promote a more just society.

Motivated by their efforts, about six months ago I accepted a position as an enforcement attorney with the Hawai'i Civil Rights Commission, choosing to forego the financial rewards of continuing to work for one of Honolulu's top law firms.

My commitment to civil rights is related, at least in part, to an experience I had about 20 years ago as a beneficiary of affirmative action at Harvard College. While walking across the Freshman Yard with an otherwise impressive group of fellow students, I was shocked to hear one of them make a crude racial comment regarding an Asian-American student studying on the lawn. I said, "Hey, I'm Asian too. Do you realize how offensive that was?"

The response was "No, no, you're one of us."

Although meant to make me feel better, it didn't — and I said so.

I do not feel "tarred" by the brush of affirmative action simply because I was admitted to Harvard and others were not. Nor do I question my intelligence or abilities.

At the same time, I am aware of the benefits of having a degree from this elite institution. I am further comforted to know that many others like me have benefited from affirmative action, whether they recognize it or not.

We all benefit from affirmative action by moving toward a society that is more just economically and socially.

David M. Forman, of Honolulu, wrote this article as an individual, not in an official capacity, for The Advertiser.