Why are we fundamentally opposed to addressing the actual problem?
The US always seems to want it both ways. It wants to be seen as morally superior AND not do anything to correct the harms its caused against its own citizens. Like, this country could actually BE morally superior if they simply started making amends. But no. The US does not want to be a global model of morality and ethics, it just wants the moral authority derived from that status without doing anything to change. Hence, I would argue, the overwhelming opposition to Affirmative Action.
So ok, sure, Affirmative Action “isn’t fair”. But neither was 150 years of legal exclusion. There is no statute of limitations on correcting literal centuries of injustices against people of color that millions of white Americans materially benefitted from. Contrary to popular opinion on the matter, justice doesn’t have an expiration date. There is no get-out-of-jail-free card for $14,000,000,000,000.00 in stolen labor, never mind land and lives.
Affirmative Action is, functionally, an intentional policy with the explicitly stated goal of correcting legal, race-based exclusion of BIPOC using the tool of… race-based inclusion. If you have two equally qualified candidates, one is Black and one is white, you choose the Black one. None of this has resulted in an overrepresentation of Black and brown people in a systematic way. You being sincerely convinced that a Black or brown person was the beneficiary of Affirmative Action or doesn’t deserve to share space with you does not make it true.
Affirmative Action can be an effective tool for creating harm reduction. It is not a perfect tool, because no tool is ever perfect. That’s not an argument against using tools unless you’re like… weirdly committed to chaos and regression.
Cancer-based problems require cancer-based solutions. Interpersonal conflict requires interpersonal problem solving. Race-based problems require race-based solutions. This is generally how tools (and reality) work.
People have been saying for years that the sentiment of “addressing racism is racist” feels a lot like claiming “acknowledging cancer is more harmful than working to cure the cancer.” I’ll admit cancer can certainly look that way when you see your friends and family going through chemotherapy and radiation. But you still have to address the root cause. Even, and maybe especially, when it’s ugly. The only way out is through.
White people are fine with affirmative action for themselves. They supported in throughout the 20th century. In fact, they are downright enthusiastic about it. (Remember how many millionaires and conservatives were snatching up those PPP loans?) But as soon as anyone else benefits, they get in their feels and suddenly become paragons of virtue and bootstraps.
California banned Affirmative Action but universities there still curate a modestly diverse student body https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/california-ended-affirmative-action-90s-retains-diverse-student-body-rcna91846
White women are the primary beneficiaries of affirmative action https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2023/06/29/affirmative-action-who-benefits-white-women/70371219007/
Most white Americans oppose Affirmative Action
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/american-opinion-affirmative-action/