deepal C

As a strong supporter of affirmative action, I am often asked to debate it. But whether the forum is a television show or a college campus, I always try to decline … Those of us who believe in systematic efforts to attain racial justice should reform the terms of the public discourse … As every debater of any skill grasps, the ability to define the question effectively determines the answer. The question should not be whether we will abolish this program or amend that plan. The question should be, “What will we do to address continuing racial disparities?” … Opponents of affirmative action, white or non-white, use the misnomers “racial preference” or “reverse discrimination.” They rely on a crucial tactic, namely making race abstract. Once race refers to any race as if discrimination struck uniformly, opponents are able to say with some credence that whether we have regular discrimination or affirmative action depends only on power and whim. Whites prefer whites, blacks prefer blacks, and so forth. If race is removed from history and context, as if whites and blacks in America were already equal, slavery and affirmative action are turned into equivalent forms of racial tyranny … Restored to reality, racial discrimination and its remedies are nothing like each other. Whether we can and should come up with programs and plans that neutralize racial discrimination and its effects become pressing inquiries. 

- Frank Wu