Trump admin. plans to attack affirmative action in universities

Last night I saw a CNN tweet that said the Trump administration was “prepar[ing] to investigate ‘race-based discrimination’”. I sensed that couldn’t be right – Trump & co., interested in safeguarding civil rights? Now there’s a thigh-slapper.

Indeed, the actual story isn’t quite about tackling racial discrimination in the sense you’re thinking of. They really just want to attack affirmative action policies in universities.

The Trump administration is preparing to redirect resources of the Justice Department’s civil rights division toward investigating and suing universities over affirmative action admissions policies deemed to discriminate against white applicants, according to a document obtained by The New York Times.

The document, an internal announcement to the civil rights division, seeks current lawyers interested in working for a new project on “investigations and possible litigation related to intentional race-based discrimination in college and university admissions.”

The announcement suggests that the project will be run out of the division’s front office, where the Trump administration’s political appointees work, rather than its Educational Opportunities Section, which is run by career civil servants and normally handles work involving schools and universities.

[…]

Supporters and critics of the project said it was clearly targeting admissions programs that can give members of generally disadvantaged groups, like black and Latino students, an edge over other applicants with comparable or higher test scores.

Conservatives have always railed against affirmative action, trying to equate its treatment of privileged groups (Whites, men, Christians, etc.) with the discrimination suffered by everyone else at the hands of those privileged groups throughout history. It’s not exactly surprising; when you spend your time arguing that racism no longer exists, or that “reverse racism” does, you’re not likely to acknowledge the historical baggage being lugged by minority groups and the difficulties they face in trying to have an equal seat at the table. So of course, social conservatives will see any policy designed to favor minority groups in small, specific ways as superfluous or downright oppressive towards them, rather than as the least a society can do to try and make amends for the degradation forced upon those who built it.

Sure, being passed over for another candidate with similar qualifications is irksome. But the personal disappointment or frustration such a White person may feel is far secondary to the importance of making an effort to try and balance the racial scales, especially when racial prejudice in schools is still very much a thing. A compassionate and aware person will recognize this, even if it means being skipped over now and again.

Which, incidentally, explains why the Trump DoJ intends to put a stop to it.

(via RT by @cnnbrk)