Yesterday Supreme Court Justices began hearing arguments against and in support of affirmative action as an ethical necessity in achieving the goal of diversity in higher education. While this is not a new issue in public policy or within philosophy (Bernard Boxill & Howard McGary has written great articles about this issue), affirmative action is still very important and the outcome of the decision will have a great impact on higher education and perhaps even beyond.
Although a group of Texas faculty members stated in a brief recently that “Nowhere in the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence does the word ‘diversity’ appear,” I believe that implicit bias, racism, and white privilege appear everyday and that is why programs like affirmative action are important. And No, affirmative action is not about giving “unprepared minorities” an advantage. It’s about–wait– I think Kerry Washington in her conversation with Bill Maher sums it up pretty well for me… diversity is achieved when we recognize that minority lives are filled with challenges and opportunity will help them overcome those challenges. Also when we allow minorities to “join the table”, everyone at the table benefits.