The Freeman 1989 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

30 THE FREEMAN. JANUARY 1989action as it has been applied is detrimental to theoperation of the job market, to white males, andto the groups it is supposed to benefit.First, affirmative action promotes the hiringof less skilled workers. It sometimes forces employersto choose the best of the minority workersthey can find, regardless of whether theyhave the required job skills. For example, DukeUniversity recently adopted a resolution requiringeach department to hire at least one newblack for a faculty position by 1993. However,only six blacks received Ph.D. 's in mathematicsin 1987 in all of the U. S., casting doubts asto whether it would be possible for each departmentto find a well-qualified black, much lesshire one.Colleges and universities frequently alsohave quotas for how many blacks it is necessaryto admit to "round out" their freshman classes.An example is the admission practice at Berkeley.Only 40 percent of the entering class in1988 were selected solely on the basis of academicmerit. While whites or Asian-Americansneed at least a 3.7 grade point average in highschool to be considered for admission, most minoritycandidates who meet a much lower standardare automatically admitted. Berkeley continuesthis practice of preferential admissionsfor minorities even though the graduation rateof minorities is very low. Sixty-six percent ofwhites or Asian-Americans graduate while only27 percent of blacks graduate.An Influence on CurriculumThe practice of affirmative action in employmentand admissions policies is now being extendedto the selection ofwriters to be studied atuniversities. At Stanford, race, gender, and nationalityof authors are to be considered in bookselection-not merely the quality of their work.Requiring that books be selected on the basis ofsuch criteria is absurd. The selection of booksshould be based on merit rather than on therace, gender, or national origin of the authors.The effect of affirmative·action based on quotasrather than merit is that quality suffers, regardlessof whether the issue is employment, collegeadmissions, or book selection.A closely related point is that affirmative actioncauses reverse discrimination. Discriminationagainst white males is just as bad as discriminationagainst minorities. Some peoplesay that affirmative action is justified as a wayof making up for past discrimination. Althoughdiscrimination still exists in the U. S., as it doesin the rest of the world, most blacks entering thejob market today were born after the CivilRights Act of 1964 and have suffered little or noprejudice in terms of salary.When this Civil Rights Act was passed, itsspirit was not one of reverse discrimination butof getting employers to consider applicants objectivelyin filling jobs within their companies.Hubert Humphrey, a major sponsor of the Act,swore that he would eat the bill if it were everused for discrimination of any sort. The pastcannot be changed and we should stop compensatingpeople who were never hurt at the expenseof people who have done them no harm.The Alan Bakke Supreme Court case held that itis reverse discrimination to accept a minoritystudent at the expense of a white student withbetter credentials. Unfortunately, this decisionhas had little influence in subsequent cases ofreverse discrimination.Another problem caused by affirmative actionis that it places a stigma on groups whichreceive preferential treatment, especially on individualsin those groups who earn their positionsbecause of their ability. Consider an employerwho hires a member of a minority groupfor a high position on the basis of merit, not foraffirmative action reasons. Other employees,however, are likely to assume that it was anaffirmative action hiring, as are many other minorityhirings. As a result, such employees cansuffer from lack of respect which makes themless useful to the company.The increase in racial tensions betweenwhites and blacks at U. S. colleges, as describedin recent news articles, is also related to preferentialadmission policies. It is not surprisingthat racial tensions have grown worse since affirmativeaction policies were implemented. Atcolleges in North Carolina, for example, blackstudents recently stated that they were treatedlike affirmative action cases even if they werenot. Professors, seeking to help, asked them ifthey needed tutoring or other assistance, alreadyassuming that blacks were unqualified.