Mr. Peabody
03-17-2006, 10:06 AM
Minority college aid suffers from attacks
Fri Mar 17, 6:58 AM ET
Yahoo News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20060317/cm_usatoday/minoritycollegeaidsuffersfromattacks&printer=1;_ylt=ApCUXOCpySbI5WW0CHxfDd_8B2YD;_ylu=X 3oDMTA3MXN1bHE0BHNlYwN0bWE-)
Demographic changes are our nation's new reality. More than 13% of Americans are Hispanic (who can be of any race), and nearly 13% are African-American. About 4% are Asian-American, and nearly 2% are Native American. Together, nearly a third of our residents are people of color. Some experts predict people of color will be nearly half of all Americans by 2050.
This has job market implications. The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education reported that the income of the U.S. workforce is projected to decline if education levels do not improve. The center said the education levels of the fastest-growing groups - Latinos and African-Americans - raise special concern. Why, then, are the Departments of Justice and Education pushing colleges and universities to allow white students to apply for scholarships, fellowships and programs targeted at students of color?
Opponents of minority scholarships, such as the Center for Individual Rights and the Center for Equal Opportunity, say people have a right to be treated equally. These groups have been so aggressive on the issue that universities, including Southern Illinois University and the State University of New York, have simply opened access to aid to all students.
The Departments of Justice and Education seem to have become adjuncts of these right-wing groups, which can't kill affirmative action in the courts or through legislation and so instead seek to do it through intimidation. While the University of Michigan spent huge sums of money defending its affirmative-action programs, many other colleges are reluctant to take on six- and seven-figure lawsuits. The avoidance of the fight might be good for universities but not for our nation, especially if we consider our long-term needs for a well-trained and diverse workforce.
Those who declare war on diversity are guilty of tunnel vision, not global vision. They speak of a level playing field in the present, instead of considering ways it had been tilted in the past. They speak of competition without questioning the fairness of the major gaps in access to higher education. For example, while 48% of whites enter college after high school, only 27% of African-Americans and Hispanics do.
Shirley Wilcher, interim executive director of the American Association for Affirmative Action, says, "Now is not the time to shut the door." Wilcher describes such efforts as "immoral and short-sighted."
Demographic diversity is our nation's new reality. Slamming the doors to educational access for underrepresented people of color ultimately slams the door on our nation's economic growth.
Julianne Malveaux is an economist and syndicated columnist.
Fri Mar 17, 6:58 AM ET
Yahoo News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20060317/cm_usatoday/minoritycollegeaidsuffersfromattacks&printer=1;_ylt=ApCUXOCpySbI5WW0CHxfDd_8B2YD;_ylu=X 3oDMTA3MXN1bHE0BHNlYwN0bWE-)
Demographic changes are our nation's new reality. More than 13% of Americans are Hispanic (who can be of any race), and nearly 13% are African-American. About 4% are Asian-American, and nearly 2% are Native American. Together, nearly a third of our residents are people of color. Some experts predict people of color will be nearly half of all Americans by 2050.
This has job market implications. The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education reported that the income of the U.S. workforce is projected to decline if education levels do not improve. The center said the education levels of the fastest-growing groups - Latinos and African-Americans - raise special concern. Why, then, are the Departments of Justice and Education pushing colleges and universities to allow white students to apply for scholarships, fellowships and programs targeted at students of color?
Opponents of minority scholarships, such as the Center for Individual Rights and the Center for Equal Opportunity, say people have a right to be treated equally. These groups have been so aggressive on the issue that universities, including Southern Illinois University and the State University of New York, have simply opened access to aid to all students.
The Departments of Justice and Education seem to have become adjuncts of these right-wing groups, which can't kill affirmative action in the courts or through legislation and so instead seek to do it through intimidation. While the University of Michigan spent huge sums of money defending its affirmative-action programs, many other colleges are reluctant to take on six- and seven-figure lawsuits. The avoidance of the fight might be good for universities but not for our nation, especially if we consider our long-term needs for a well-trained and diverse workforce.
Those who declare war on diversity are guilty of tunnel vision, not global vision. They speak of a level playing field in the present, instead of considering ways it had been tilted in the past. They speak of competition without questioning the fairness of the major gaps in access to higher education. For example, while 48% of whites enter college after high school, only 27% of African-Americans and Hispanics do.
Shirley Wilcher, interim executive director of the American Association for Affirmative Action, says, "Now is not the time to shut the door." Wilcher describes such efforts as "immoral and short-sighted."
Demographic diversity is our nation's new reality. Slamming the doors to educational access for underrepresented people of color ultimately slams the door on our nation's economic growth.
Julianne Malveaux is an economist and syndicated columnist.