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Title: Reflections of an Affirmative Action Baby by Stephen L. Carter ISBN: 0-465-06869-3 Publisher: Basic Books Pub. Date: September, 1992 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $21.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.71 (7 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A book to encourage debate- not end it!!
Comment: This is not the book that many will expect it to be. If the reader is looking for a book taking a position for or against affirmative action, she will be dissapointed here. In fact, half of the book actually is absent talk of affirmative action at all. What Carter does do in "Reflections.." is relay to us his experiences, thoughts and feelings on the matter in the style of an internal socratic dialogue.
Stephen Carter is just the man to do it. He has written many books on the many aspects of law and, as he conveys in this cultural memoir, has aquired views notoriously hard to pin down (how many 'liberals' do YOU know who wrote books suggesting that church/state seperation has been taken too far?!) Accordingly, he can admits both being helped by affirmative action and being psychologically hurt by some of it's misguided effects. His willingness to think and write about these quandaries, so often neglected by other thinkers, makes this a fascinating read. No dogmatic diatribes or easy answers, just discussion that is passionate yet objective.
While affirmative action dominates the first half of the book, it is used as a springboard to the second half, which discusses a deeper problem- that of a noticeable distrust in Black America of dissenting political voices. Thomas Sowell, Shelby Steele, Clarence Thomas and the like are quick to be called 'white' or 'inauthentic' if they voice opinions contrary to mainstream black thought. Whether or not you agree with Carter's observation, his discussion here is lively, thoughtful and always respectful of all angles.
So, to close, the reason for the subtracted star is the fact that this book might disappoint two expectations readers may have for it- First, there are no conclusions reached here. While this is a good thing in itself, the reader looking for winning intellectual argument will need to look elsewhere. The second is that the title is a bit misleading as only about 100 pages are actually on affirmative action. Again, the discussion after is just as mind-capturing. Still, because of the title and synopsis, it is a bit misleading.
Rating: 1
Summary: A Flawed Argument
Comment: Once over lunch with a Polish-American friend of mine, we discussed affirmative action. I support it; she doesn't. "Carolyn," she said, "you're so smart. Aren't you resentful that people will think that you got so far in school, employment, and life in general because of the color of your skin?"
"Kim," I answered, "what makes you think that black people don't think that everytime we see unqualified white people who've "made it"? Do you really think George W. Bush would have been admitted to Yale if he'd been black?" That gave her some food for thought so I was able to finish my share of the sushi before we moved on to dissect "Memento". I loved it; she hated it.
The point is, the argument that affirmative action is somehow unfair to blacks because it lumps the "unqualified" in with the "qualified" is bull. Life lumps the "unqualified" in with the "qualified" all the time. Which is why both a D student cheerleader like George W. Bush and and an A+ student bi-lingual Academy Award winner like Jodie Foster hold degrees from Yale.
Why is it that all of the black intellectuals who come out against affirmative action owe their educations and careers to its existence? It's amazing how these men and women want to turn around and lock the doors that openly admitted them so that no more minorities can pass through.
Stephen L. Carter's argument is flawed. But I'm sure it helped sell his book, so more power to ya, brotha! Count your cash and forget the cost to minorities in America.
Rating: 4
Summary: Required reading for everyone!
Comment: I picked up this one in a second-hand bookstore in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. What an odd place for such a book, and what a treat it was for me!!
I have many friends from the US, and I have over the years heard they mentioning of "AA-programs". Some of my friends are positive to the AA-programs while others are against them. I must confess that I have absolutely no first-hand experience on this topic at all. I have the "preferred" skin-color, and also I'm living in Norway - which is one of the more advanced countries when it comes to equal opportunities - equal pay etc. Therefore, in the past, I had little to contribute with when the topic was discussed. And lack of knowledge was probably my strongest motive for reading "Reflections of an Affirmative Action Baby".
One would think that a serious topic as Affirmative Action really is, would make a dry and rather verbose book. But Dr. Carter has an easy writing style, combined with his personal anecdotes - "Reflections of an Affirmative Action Baby" was an entertaining read! I greatly enjoyed the book from page one. It was too good to put down, so I finished it in a few long sittings.
After reading this book, I have a better understanding on how the different AA-program works. And I must admit that I side with the ones of my friends whom are against such programs. This, simply because I truly believe that "color-blind is best". Treat everyone as individuals, and stop the stereotyping, and the building up under the belief that minorities cannot compete in a level playing field. For example, when American universities admit Blacks, Hispanics or others with lower exam scores than the rest, it is a waste of resources. They are more likely to follow the trend with lower test results than the rest, to not pass the exams, or fail to graduate at all (Thomas Sowell "Race and Culture - A world view", 1995). If any minority group be it Blacks, Hispanics or others, score lower than other groups, the recourses should be put in to improving the schools rather than telling them (the minorities) they do not need to meet the same standards as others. I can of course never completely comprehend or understand the terrible injustice and the endless frustrations that the minorities must have suffered, as I believe you have to have "walked in their shoes" to do so. But I am at least much more knowledgeable when discussing the topic.
After reading the book I passed it on to my friend, Rosa. She is living in US, but her parents moved from Puerto Rico to US some 30 years ago. She too, finished the book in a sitting or two, and she passed it on to her mother who was visiting from US. Both Rosa and her mother could perfectly well identify with Dr. Carter's book. I can never imagine what it is like to feel the doubt of colleagues to whether my success was achieved because of my race (and thereof by the privileges granted under an AA-program) rather than merit. But according to what Rosa told me, that is something all minorities has to live with. I am sure she knows what she is talking about, being a highly successful woman teaching (and doing her Ph.D.) at one of the best universities in Chicago. Another (black) friend of mine (also very successful) says "..My SAT-score was way above the score required, and I would have been admitted to the West Point Academy even if I was polka-dotted. But I am so used to the accusations of me achieving what I have achieved due to my skin-color rather than to my merits, to the point where that I am not even offended by it anymore..."
"Reflections of an Affirmative Action Baby" is a book that taught me many things, and it should be required reading for everyone.
It is a book that leaves you thinking - which is not necessarily a bad thing...
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Title: Affirmative Action: Social Justice or Reverse Discrimination? (Contemporary Issues Series) by Francis J. Beckwith, Todd E. Jones ISBN: 1573921572 Publisher: Prometheus Books Pub. Date: September, 1997 List Price(USD): $21.00 |
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Title: The Culture of Disbelief by Stephen L. Carter ISBN: 0385474989 Publisher: Anchor Pub. Date: 01 September, 1994 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: The Affirmative Action Debate by George E. Curry, Cornel West ISBN: 020147963X Publisher: Perseus Publishing Pub. Date: May, 1996 List Price(USD): $18.50 |
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Title: Integrity by Stephen L. Carter ISBN: 0060928077 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 29 January, 1997 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Not All Black and White: Affirmative Action, Race, and American Values by Christopher, Jr. Edley ISBN: 0809029553 Publisher: Hill & Wang Pub Pub. Date: October, 1996 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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