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Jewish World Review/Oct. 27, 1998/ 7 Mar-Cheshvan, 5759
Linda Chavez
FOR THE FIRST TIME since Californians enacted that state's controversial ban on racial
and sex-based preference programs in 1996, voters will once again be asked on
Tuesday whether they approve or disapprove of programs that confer special benefits
on members of some racial minorities and women.
The venue this time is Washington state, where a ballot initiative identical in wording to
California's Proposition 209 appears likely to win. If the measure passes, its effect will
be to revive what seemed like a national trend just two years ago -- the backlash
against group rights. If the measure fails, however, it's unlikely other states will take up
the issue at all. The Republican-controlled Congress has already shown no stomach to
take on racial preferences, despite years of anti-affirmative action rhetoric by
Republican politicians. Win or lose, Washington's anti-preference initiative will set the
stage for what happens next in the affirmative action wars.
The story of Katuria Smith, a graduate of the University of Washington who was denied
admission to the law school this year, illustrates why race-based admissions strike
some people as unfair. Although she is white, Katuria is far from privileged. Raised by
a single mom along with her three siblings, Katuria worked several jobs while she
attended night school at a community college -- including one job as a janitor, another
working construction and still another at a cattle auction. She was finally able to
transfer to the University of Washington for her final two years and graduated cum
laude.
But Katuria's perseverance and personal history counted for little when she applied to
law school. The University of Washington rejected Katuria while admitting several
minority applicants with lower grades and test scores. The law school defends its
policy on the grounds that it must make special allowances for minority students if it is
to compete at all for minority enrollees. There are simply too few black and Hispanic
students who can meet the law school's competitive regular admissions policies, and
the school argues, if it didn't make some exception, it will lose out in competition to
other law schools that have aggressive affirmative action programs.
As a result, according to data recently published in the Seattle Times, the grade point
average of the average black student admitted to the law school in 1997 was actually
lower than the GPA of the average white student denied admission, while the test
scores of the two groups were identical. Overall, black and Hispanic students admitted
to the law school score, on average, substantially below their white and Asian
counterparts.
Of course, the same kinds of qualifications gaps occur at the undergraduate level in
Washington as well as in other states. But the rationale at that level is at least plausible
-- black and Hispanic students are presumed to have attended inferior, inner-city
schools, where they may not have been as well prepared to compete on SATs, for
example.
But, presumably, black and Hispanic students applying for law school have already
earned a degree from a four-year institution and can hardly be viewed as educationally
disadvantaged. Why must they continue to receive added points in the selection
process for graduate and professional schools? This is more than a helping hand. It's a
permanent crutch.
Katuria Smith has decided to sue the law school over its decision to admit less qualified
students because of their race or ethnicity, and her case may eventually make its way
to the Supreme Court. But the voters of Washington will have first crack at deciding
whether such policies are fair. Their votes may well determine whether other Katuria
Smiths around the country will have the opportunity to be judged on their academic
accomplishments, not the color of their skin.
It's spreading!
In many ways, Washington is an unlikely locale for a debate about race. Few blacks or
Latinos live in the state (they make up about 8 percent of the population), nonetheless
the state uses racial preferences in a variety of government programs, including state
contracting, state employment and -- especially -- admission to state colleges and
universities. Since most voters neither work for nor do business with the state, the use
of race in college admissions decisions has provoked the greatest outcry.
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7/07/98: Urge to mega-merge, stopped in time
6/30/98: Why take responsibility if
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6/17/98: Flotsam in the wake of romance
6/10/98: We have a ways to go in the bilingual war
6/3/98: Tyson's triumph over tragedy
5/28/98: Why Univision's Perenchio is out to hurt his fellow Hispanics
5/20/98: Sometimes Buba actually tells the truth ... as he sees it
5/12/98: Chill-out on the chihuahua and ... Seinfeld
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4/21/98: Legislating equality
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3/18/98: Intellectual-ghettoes in the name of diversity
3/11/98: Be careful what you wish for ...
3/4/98: The Press' Learning-disability
2/25/98: 50 States Are Enough!
2/18/98: Casey at the Mat
2/11/98: The legal profession's Final Solution
2/4/98: Faith and the movies
1/28/98: Clinton, Lewinsky, and Politics Vs. Principle
1/21/98: Movement on the Abortion Front
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1/7/98: Child custody or child endangerment?
12/31/97: Jerry Seinfeld, All-American
12/24/97: Affirmative alternatives: New initiatives for equal opportunity are out there
12/17/97: Opening a window of opportunity (a way out of bilingual education for California's Hispanic kids)