Ujima Newspaper, Volume 1, Issue 8 - November 1977

UJIMA Volume 1, Number 8 LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY NOVEMBER, 1977 Focus On Affirmative Action Where Do We Go From Here? by Mark Harris The 14th Amendment . . Montgomery, Alabama . . . Selma, Mississippi . . . Martin Luther King, Jr. . . . Brown vs. The Board of Education . . . Civil Rights Act of 1964 . . . Lyndon Baines Johnson and Allen P. Bakke vs. Regents of the Univer¬ sity of California! What do all of these people, places, court cases and legislation have in common? They are all intrical comppnents of a move toward realizing true equality within the United States for women and men of all ethnic backgrounds. This movement has been labeled affirmative ac¬ tion and in this case, the title is self descriptive of its purpose. The affirmative action move¬ ment of the 1960’s and 1970’s was one of the programs aimed at moving affirmatively towards equal representation in both higher education and the profes¬ sional occupational strata of American society. Many have in¬ terpreted affirmative action to be a movement towards the creation of “special consideration,” “goals programs,” or “quotas.” All three of these means have merely been used to reach the ultimate goal of equal representa¬ tion. Along with incentives, they collectively rather than individu¬ ally make up affirmative action* Although affirmative action programs usually include women as well as minorities, this article will primarily explore the topic as it relates to minorities and, even more specifically, to its effect upon Blacks. This is not meant to be an insult to women and other minority groups; it is merely a re¬ flection upon the data collected from personal interviews with those knowledgeable on this sub¬ ject. Although affirmative action was meant to include both women and minority groups, people automatically envision Blacks as the primary recipients of the benefits of affirmative ac¬ tion programs. The truth or inac¬ curacy of this presumption will not be explored. This article will merely reflect the existence of this presumption in the minds of those interviewed. Where affirmative action will go from here remains to be seen. Many people were asked for their opinion of the affirmative action movement. Their views on the subject will be presented first. Af¬ ter, my personal conclusions as to where affirmative action should go will be stressed. When researching affirmative action programs one must surely question the conditions that led up to their inception. Only sev¬ eral of the major historical justifi¬ cations for the implementation of affirmative action programs will be brought out because these are, in my judgement, the most sound justifications. Affirmative action programs rose directly from the torrid Civil Rights struggles of the fifties and sixties. This struggle was a direct outcry among Blacks against the injustices (i.e., slavery, segrega¬ tion, Jim Crowism) that had be¬ fallen them throughout their lifetime and the lifetimes of both their fathers and grandfathers. These people felt that the in¬ justices of the past must be re¬ called because, in a very real sense, they had shaped their pre¬ sent conditions. As Dr. John E. Flemming stated in his book, The Lengthening Shadow of Slavery, “Evils and wrongs committed on the basis of race are unlikely to be remedied and corrected without taking race into account.” One cannot hope to under¬ stand the concept of affirmative action without first understanding the impact that slavery, discrimi¬ nation and racism have had on modem day Black men. Blacks have felt that education and knowledge were essential for them to acquire freedom, human dignity, and most importantly, participation in the mainstream of American society, rather than on the fringes or on the outside al¬ together. The right to attain any educa¬ tion was initially denied to Blacks and eventually metamorphisized to a form that forbade Blacks from attending predominantly white undergraduate and graduate schools. Until the crea¬ tion of the all-Black institution, i.e., Tuskeegee Institute, Fisk University, Howard University, etc., there was no hope for Black people to attain any form of higher education. This historical denial of higher education for Black people has had a direct impact upon their modem day inability to partici¬ pate in the world of the profes¬ sionally trained Americans. In order to correct this injustice, af¬ firmative action was necessary to ensure more Black representa¬ tion in the professional work force, therefore slowly but surely increasing the amount of slices Blacks could claim from Ameri¬ ca’s pie of affluence. Evellyn Idel- son of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commmission showed her support for this asser¬ tion by stating, “Numerical re¬ medies, i.e., goals or quotas, ac¬ tually do correct the exclusionary practices of the past, but there is a critical need to improve the edu¬ cation of minorities to better pre¬ pare them for the equal employ¬ ment opportunities of the fu¬ ture.” The largest and the most justi¬ fiable argument against affirma¬ tive action is that it sanctions re¬ warding minorities and women (Continued on Page 7) Mary Blanding Extends AAC Services by Lonnice J. Brittenum Mary Blanding A common denominator for all students at Loyola Marymount University is Ms. Mary Blanding. This energetic young woman holds the position of Assistant Di¬ rector of the Afro-American Center. Although out of necessity Ms. Blanding must concentrate on the affairs of the minority stu¬ dents, she always stresses her dedication and concern when it comes to any student’s problem. Reaching goals is an important aspect of Ms. Blanding’sjob. She feels that every student should seek to gain as much competence as possible, meaning that they should learn as much about themselves as they are taught about others. Education, in gen¬ eral, should seek to motivate the student to further investigate areas of interest. It should not be seen as an end result, but as a road to a lifetime of learning. Ms. Blanding feels that Loyola Marymount needs the Afro- American Studies program be¬ cause it is not prepared to offer these elements without it. The absence of this program would (Continued on Page 8)