Here is an excerpt of a testimony toward the reality of the negative stain that affirmative action has left on a Stanford law professor (Marcus Cole) over at Volokh Conspiracy:
Let me illustrate my point. I am willing to bet that I am the only member of this list who feels compelled to put his standardized test scores and National Merit award on his CV. Why do I do this? For those of you who do not know me personally, it is not a matter of braggadocio. Every September I have to deal with nearly 60 prima donna first year law students whose first and only (initial) reaction to my skin color is that they have been cheated out of a “real” Contracts professor, and are stuck with an “Affirmative Action” instructor. Many of them come around when, as some “gunners” often do, they look up my CV and find that I have outscored virtually every single one of them on the test around which they have centered their lives, the LSAT. Others usually come around by mid semester when they have had an opportunity to compare my teaching to that of their other instructors. If numbers (standardized test scores and teaching evaluations) could obscure my skin color, my life would be heavenly.
I am not complaining. I live a truly blessed life. But to insinuate that my life is nothing more than an Affirmative Action storyline is the insult that I endure year in, year out. I have done everything I can do to distinguish myself. I’ve worked hard (scrubbed toilets as a janitor to put myself through college at Cornell, among other things). Yet nothing I do is enough to satisfy anyone on the left that I am their equal without need of their help, or anyone on the right that I am not where I am because of affirmative action.
For something similar, check out this page on Jon David Farley, a black mathematician. It states, “He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University in 1991, where earned 29 A’s and 3 A-‘s.” (not my bold-faced, they are present in the original!) Also, check out this page dedicated to black mathematicians.
This illustrates the trade-off between individual attainment and group achievement-I bold-faced that professor Cole teaches at Stanford because I wanted to highlight that he is not a typical individual, let alone a typical black American. Men like Marcus Cole will and do succeed no matter their race. On the other hand, I think we can admit that if affirmative action ended today, there would be far fewer blacks in the commanding heights of academe. That is the price that we would have to pay for Marcus Cole’s self-esteem.
I say this not to belittle the pain Marcus Cole feels, but to remind ourselves that in trading in their individual self-respect black Americans have created a decent sized middle class, for only 1 out of 4 blacks lives the stereotype of the underclass lifestyle today. It might be harsh to state that black Americans have sacrificed their self-respect, but I believe Marcus Cole’s assessment is an accurate reflection of reality in how others perceive high achieving blacks, insofar as they will always be high achieving blacks, rather than just high achievers. I myself live at the other end of the antipode of group evaluation, the moderate success of my group (South Asians) often gives people the immediate perception that I am intellectually nimble & technically oriented (or that I drive a cab!). I have known Asian Americans who aren’t good at math or straight A students who would complain that they have to live up to group expectations and deal with daily disappointment from acquaintances who quickly realize they aren’t geniuses.
The evaluation and legal organization of our citizenry along group lines has individual effects. There are costs and benefits to any given decision-those of us who disagree with affirmative action must admit those costs, and those who revel in the diversity that America’s current status quo allows should take time out to reflect on the individual costs that they might never have to bear.
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