OP/ED -
Runnmg into the wind: Affirmative action
LUKE SMITH CRI IS IN THE HOL LA ND

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LETTER TO THE EDITOR

I


n the late
'80s, I was
a world-
class sprinter.
You may not
remember me,
but there are
those who do.
The 100-
meter dash
was my specialty. I ran like the
wind. Few men could outrun me,
and only a handful of animals had
faster jaunts over land than I did.
My speed and notoriety threatened
Carl Lewis and he challenged me
to a race in my specialty. With a
smug grin, I accepted and pulled
down my shiny Adidas tracksuit,
laced up my sneakers and walked
to the starting block. Carl, Mr.
Lewis to you slow-folks, walked by
me and to his starting block ten
meters ahead of mine. Osama Bin
Laden strode up and slid into posi-
tion five meters ahead of me. He
was in especially good shape with
being trained by our military and
all. His beard was well trimmed.
Very well trimmed.
I, a veteran of many races
know that different distances are
staggered, but the 100 meters -
it was always a straight shot.
Lewis kneeled into the track-
starter-upper position (technical
term) and I looked up and asked
"Hey Carl, what gives? This is

the 100, there are no stagger
starts in the 100, why are you
starting ahead of me?"
"Because," Carl smiled, "I'm
black."
And with a bang, the gun fired.
The race is being run now, and
people are losing, choking and gur-
gling on a system that wraps more
than a spare tire around the waists
of the majority. Everyone is losing
in some way, shape or form.
Whether or not people want to
admit it, affirmative action is a sad
attempt first at a constant apology
to the minority community of the
United States and second, an
admittance on the part of those
who utilize this flawed system that
they are lesser people.
Carl Lewis certainly didn't
need a head-start on that windy
August morning, but because he
took his 10 meter bump to the front
of the line, he did. Is this right?
This essential handicapping of a
race, a competition for the good of
even-keel society? So why do
minorities need affirmative action?
I can only defend affirmative
action on the grounds that life isn't
fair. Some people are fat, some are
bald, some are pretty, some are ugly,
some are rich and some are poor.
Life hasn't ever been fair, and affir-
mative action serves as little more
than a desperate reach to cultivate
some level of 'fairness' in the Unit-

ed States. The absurdity of "every-
thing being fair and equal" is a
naive concept, a philosophical opti-
mism, little more than a pipe dream,
so much in fact that to pursue it cor-
rodes ideologies even further.
In the creation of affirmative
action in its present state, the cham-
pions and recipients of its benefits
are minorities and women. The
white male receives no such bene-
fit. Most problematic is the exclu-
sion of financial status in
consideration for affirmative
action's fringe benefits of elbowing
one's way to the front of the admis-
sions, corporate or whatever line.
With the exclusion of finan-
cial consideration, affirmative
action ineffectively segregates
those who receives its benefits.
The impoverished white individ-
ual hailing from somewhere in
rural middle America receives no
such added consideration on the
assumption that whites need no
extra push into college. This is a
nauseating principle.
It's even more disgusting when
the side of the coin is flipped and
you see perfectly able, educated
and financially secure minorities
receiving special "considerations"
that they don't need. Just read that
again. Thanks.
Anyone with half of a brain can
see that the system is flawed. Those
championing minority rights and

handing out flyers and making their
voices heard should rationally be
able to see the inherent flaws in
affirmative action. In creating a
system that is designed to include
minorities, it must discriminate the
so-called majority - this concept
itself is an oxymoronic one.
To those applauding the court
case and its result, smile and
enjoy. It is a victory for you and
your cause. Those who chant and
scream with mouths wide open
have earned it. Do keep in mind
that you champion a system that is
flawed, inherently discriminatory
and a conceptual leap of idiocy at
an ideological nirvana that cannot
nor should be attained. Life is not
fair, there is no reason to try and
equalize it.
The sweat poured from my
arms, I saw the lights on Carl's
L.A. Gears shining through the
mist as I sucked his dust. The
world beside me was a blur and
my legs were on fire. I saw him
cross the tape and I followed, less
than a second behind. When the
mathematicians had factored the
meters/second traveling, I was
faster, but that 10 meter edge was
just enough.
From now on we should all be
on the starting blocks together.
Luke Smith can be reached at
lukems@umich.edu.

Coleman must
advance diversity
at the 'U>
To THE DAILY:
I would like to commend
the University Board of
Regents for their breaking
new ground and choosing a
woman for the first time to
be University president.
Such an innovative and
eventually necessary deci-
sion is gratifying to those of
us in the community who
have vigorously, publicly
and repeatedly called for the
regents highly to consider
appointing a woman and/or
a minority group member,
for once, as the new perma-
nent president. Their deci-
sion also may show that
when communities try to
make their voices heard,
those in power may actually
listen at times: An encourag-
ing lesson.
Not that Coleman was
selected because of her
womanhood; anyone elected
to the National Academy of
Sciences (one of many hon-
ors) is certainly a person of
merit by any measure. Of
course, Coleman's diversify-
ing the history of the office
of the presidency by her
being female is hardly a bad

thing either.
I also want to thank
interim President B. Joseph
White for reaching out dur-
ing his tenure to various
communities, including
women, and for his public
support of affirmative
action. In addition, he, I was
told by a member of the
campus lesbian-gay-bisexu-
al-transgender community,
recently attended the
"Lavender Graduation" held
by and for LGBT graduating
students; apparently, he was
the first university president
to do so, although "Laven-
der Graduations" have been
happening for years here.
Hopefully, Coleman will
follow his noble example
and reach out to other and
varied people in the com-
munity as he has done.
The University commu-
nity has made real strides
toward diversity and justice
lately, but we and the new
President have much more
work left to do, although
there is great reason for a
justified pride in the recent
victories, let those at the
University know that she
does work well with student
groups.
DAVID BOYLE
Law School
Democratic candidatefor
US. House of Representatives

I

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