As I read both the Bowen and Bok book, and the report recently released by the President's Advisory Commission on Race, I was struck by the fact that there is so much yet to be done to eradicate racism and move us to a more multicultural society. As the Supreme Court opened on October 5, for example, the NAACP was outside protesting the paucity of law clerks of color that have been hired by the justices. Although Bowen and Bok show that more and more African Americans are attending law school, the myopic court somehow cannot find "qualified" law clerks.
And the Congress is no better. Many members do not have a single person of color on their staff.
A contemporary view of race relations is necessarily kaleidoscopic. On one hand, there is the solid evidence presented by Bowen and Bok that affirmative action works; on the other hand, there is the racist and myopic proposal by Congressman Frank Riggs (R-Calif.), who does not want federal dollars to be spent on any campus that has race-sensitive admissions policies.
Read the Bok and Bowen book. It will make you think about what we have done about race, and what we need to do to provide educational opportunity in the future.
COPYRIGHT 1998 Cox, Matthews & Associates© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
