An unqualified "yes" is the answer offered by Dinesh D'Souza, John M. Olin Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a senior domestic policy adviser during the Reagan administration. D'Souza, who addressed an Emory audience of more than 500 on Oct. 19, is making appearances nationwide to discuss the content of his new book, The End of Racism: Principles for a Multiracial Society. He is also author of Illiberal Education (1991). The Emory address was sponsored by the Indian Cultural Exchange and the College Republicans.
D'Souza has stirred controversy recently because of his claims that African Americans and other minority groups are receiving preferential treatment in hiring (through affirmative action and related programs) and in college admissions (through policies that focus on criteria other than what D'Souza refers to as merit).
Berkeley, D'Souza explained, is considering merit as an admissions criterion for Hispanics and African Americans only within their racial groups, and is not allowing direct, merit-based competition across racial lines. He said the reason for this practice is that admission based solely on merit would result in a student body composed of 90 percent whites and Asians.
The irony of admissions policies such as Berkeley's, and of affirmative action policies in the larger society, D'Souza said, is that they do more long-term harm than good to minority groups. He said this harm expresses itself when minority students drop out of universities such as Berkeley before graduating because they can't perform at the same level as other students, and when minority professionals hired through affirmative action mandates are isolated in the hinterlands of business, areas where no key decisions are made.
The only realistic strategy for ending racism in America, D'Souza said, is to "get the federal government out of the race business" and use merit as the only criterion for hiring, promotion, academic admissions and other areas where excellence is measured. Only then will members of minority groups achieve true equality based on their ability to compete in the larger society, and only then will racism be discredited to the degree that it can no longer be viewed as a rational way of thinking, D'Souza said.
While the rise of cultural relativism in the 1940s was understandable, D'Souza said that in the 1990s it prevents discussion of problems within cultures, because criticism of any culture is forbidden. He said that problems of violence, drug use, illegitimacy and a lack of regard (and sometimes an outright disdain) for the importance of education have become part of the culture of most inner-city, African American neighborhoods. But those problems cannot be addressed candidly and honestly because a misplaced devotion to cultural relativism prohibits such discussion.
Although "old-style" racism continues to be a problem in the United States,
D'Souza said that African Americans must work to eliminate the elements of a "culture of irresponsibility" from their larger culture, and incorporate a "culture of decency" into their communities.
In the question-and-answer session following
D'Souza's address, a number of questioners accused D'Souza of oversimplifying complex problems whose roots can be traced back over several centuries. D'Souza was cited several times for discounting the effects of deplorable economic and educational conditions in poor inner-city neighborhoods, conditions whose problems are the result of racism.
Coverage of a panel discussion in response to
D'Souza's address appears on page 5.
--Dan Treadaway