For those of you haven’t heard, the wonderfully insightful Pat Buchanan was let out of his cage again. This time to spew hatred on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, who is likely going to be the first Hispanic ever allowed on the court. The video is below, but Pat’s main point is that white men are the new underclass. He seems to think they’ve been exceptionally discriminated against, that the country was built on the backs of white people, other races didn’t fight in the civil war, and other nonsense. He’s clearly high on something.
That said, I wanted to quickly blog on him, trying my best to understand his frame of mind. I actually think his visceral hate has two (understandable?) causes…
- The country always “known” as a mosaic containing different faiths, colors, and beliefs is actually becoming it. One day soon there will be more minorities than whites. Group think necessitates that he feel a bit threatened by this development. Honestly, though, his fears can be allayed…I’m pretty sure depressing statistics like this aren’t drastically changing soon.
- Now, his other point is a bit more complex. I’ve struggled with the concept of affirmative action for a minute. It’s a particularly charged issue, especially for me. Honestly, I love and hate the concept. As a (potential) direct recipient of the initiative, I wonder if my existence in college is owed to it. On the other hand, I hope that my grades would have been high enough to make it where I wanted regardless of color. I hate the idea of being given a hand out, or a leg up…I feel like there’s a perceived weakness, no matter how I try to qualify it. So that’s the hate side…On the other hand, I love it because I realize without affirmative action the country would have had little impetus to advance women or minorities to positions of power. My grandfather would likely not have been admitted to college, just off the basis of prejudice…no matter how high his scores were. That in turn would have meant different life opportunities for his children, and through them, me. So in short, I hope the need for it completely disappears one day. Gift and a curse…
What do you good people think? Affirmative action. Good or bad? Somewhere in between?
Enjoy my good friend Pat in the interim…try not to throw anything at your laptop. Oh, and just so there’s something music related on my music blog, I should say yet again…Maxwell’s most recent album is ridiculously good. Tis all. Hope everybody’s well.
