National affirmative action debate spurs on

District Chronicles
By: Jessica Bassett/Special to the NNPA from the St. Louis American
Posted: 1/11/09ST. LOUIS (NNPA) -

On Nov. 4, amid all the excitement surrounding Barack Obama's election, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit struck down a Pentagon Program that included five-percent set-aside contracting for minority-owned companies.The impact of the decision is unclear, but on that same day, Nebraska voters supported an anti-affirmative action initiative by a margin of 58 to 42 percent. They thus joined voters in California, Washington and Michigan, who banned affirmative action programs in previous years.Obama's historic achievement is being seen by some as proof that affirmative action programs are no longer needed."It would be a big mistake for people to look into the White House, see a beautiful family there and then say the struggle is over," said George Curry, a journalist and affirmative action expert. "The proof that we don't need affirmative action is when major corporations and higher institutions represent our composition in society."Curry, author of "The Affirmative Action Debate," said one problem with affirmative action is that most people fail to accurately define it."Affirmative action has never been just for Black people," Curry said. "White women have benefited more from affirmative action than any minority group."By definition, affirmative action (a term coined in the 1960s) was developed to ensure that applicants were treated equally without regard to race, color, religion, sex or national origin.It proved controversial, as many White males hollered reverse discrimination by claiming that they were losing government jobs to less-qualified women and racial minorities.The Supreme Court ruled 30 years ago that universities could use race as one factor in choosing applicants but could not set quotas. Subsequent court rulings and state referendums placed more restrictions on affirmative action.In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 209, which barred government institutions from using preferential treatment based on race or gender in employment, education and contracting.The law had significant effects on higher education, with UC Berkeley seeing a 61 percent drop in admissions of African Americans, Latinos and Native American students. UCLA had a 36 percent decline.Opponents of affirmative action argue that Obama's election eliminates the need for special programs for Blacks, while states like Missouri struggle to keep their affirmative action programs afloat.President-elect Obama has called traditional affirmative action "absolutely necessary."

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