Talking Point #8 - Wise

Premise:

• affirmative action
• racial preferences
• struggle
• equal opportunity
• blacks
• whites
• students

Arguement:

Wise argues that whites are ignorant to racial preference in our society and very specifically in work field and schools, and "all talk of ending afirmative action is not only premature but a slap in the face to those who have fought, and died, for equal opportunity."

Evidence:

"A full time black male worker in 2003 makes less in real dollar terms than similar white men were earning in 1967."

"We ignore the fact tat at amost every turn, our hard work has been met with access to an opportunity structure denied to millions of others. Privilege, to us, is like water to the fish: invisible precisely because we cannot imagine like without it."

"Because of intense racial isolation (and Michigan's schools are the most segregated in America for blacks, according o research by the Harvard Civil Rights Project), students of color will rarely attend the "best" schools, and on average, schools serving mostly black and Latino students offer only a third as many AP honors courses as schools serving mostly whites."

Comments:

I thought this was a very thoughtful aricle on racial preference. Wise very clearly shares her views on racial preference, and uses a lot of passion in doing so. It was a quick, short, interesting, and factual read, and I really enjoyed it.