tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321349.post417396953869843711..comments2024-03-18T22:21:33.261-07:00Comments on The Debate Link: The False HeroDavid Schraubhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04946653376744012423noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321349.post-49569679809467072832007-05-11T00:47:00.000-07:002007-05-11T00:47:00.000-07:00Since most of the comments you got at Moderate Voi...Since most of the comments you got at Moderate Voice were nonsense, I'll just pipe up to say that this is an excellent post. I find the reference to caste particularly interesting -- have you read any of the scholarship on how race in the U.S. actually has functioned in a caste-like manner (Ogbu)? It's really interesting. <BR/><BR/>India has maintained some form of affirmative action for the scheduled castes pretty much since independence, and the majority, especially in rural areas, still are in a crappy condition because of the remaining prejudices. I remember reading about an Indian Supreme Court justice who said he foresaw no end to the need for caste AA; it was contrasted with O'Connor's blithe declaration that she thought racial AA would be unnecessary in 25 years. And if you think some Americans are bitter about affirmative action... at least here there's a slight social concern about appearing racist, whereas in India since caste officially isn't supposed to exist under the law, it seems to be socially acceptable to say nasty things about how meritless Dalits take too many positions at university, etc.<BR/><BR/>I wonder if there's any parallel in the U.S. to how some Dalits who converted to Christianity (motivated in large part by the hope that this would allow them to escape the Hindu caste system) thereby lost their ability to qualify for caste AA -- and of course their being Christian doesn't mean they are treated any better. The closest I can think of is Native Americans who integrated very early into white society.<BR/><BR/>I remember writing a post around the time of the Michigan cases laying out what would make me sign on to the O'Connor 25-year-limit on AA: it basically required a massive investment in African American communities, ranging from maternal health to high-quality daycare to heavily-funded elementary and secondary education. I just get frustrated with the majority of vocal affirmative action opponents because none of them seem to be put even half as much energy into changes that would render AA unnecessary. Apologies for tooting my own horn, but I think I have spent at least as much time tutoring underrepresented minority students as I have writing or talking about affirmative action. Heck, I might even trade some of that government action for an enforceable commitment from every single American who wants to end AA, that s/he do something personally (not politically -- lobbying for vouchers doesn't count, Messrs. Clegg and Bolick) to help underrepresented minority students' educations.<BR/><BR/>Warren was the governor of California during WWII when thousands of Japanese-Americans were rounded up and put in internment camps, and testified before Congress in favor of the move. Speaking of ideological drift, thankfully it can go the other way as well -- by the time he published his memoirs in 1977, Warren at least apologized for, though did not explain, this action.PGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09381347581328622706noreply@blogger.com