Last night I was watching the “60 minutes” interview with Justice Clarence Thomas, and he said something bothering. He said, my degree from Yale is worth 15 cents (the price of the frame it is in).
To understand this quote I must take you back. Justice Thomas is a supreme court Justice of the United States. He was confirmed approximately 16 years ago. Now I have to mention, he is an African-American male, and the most criticized Justice on the bench. Not by Caucasians, but by his fellow African-Americans. He is criticized mainly because he believes affirmative action is wrong (as it hinders blacks), as he constantly votes to eradicate all racial equal opportunity laws by the federal government and is seen as the least qualified Justice. He also believes people should find their own way, and not rely on government subsidies.
Some of those criticisms are unfounded, but one thing I must say is that, on a prima facie basis, he is not the most qualified individual for the job. If you look at the resume of the other Justices’, you will see that he is the least qualified member ( Justice Ginsburg is a close second). However, is been the least academically qualified member mean one does not belong?
Justice Thomas, is also heavily criticized for been a “sell out” and an “uncle Tom”, because he does not regularly side with “black” issues.
Now that I have given an idea about who he is and what he stands for, let us go back to the 15-cent degree. Justice Thomas was given the opportunity to go to college through a minority program. For postgraduate, Justice Thomas was accepted to Yale, mostly because of a minority quota program (back in the days). These opportunities were afforded to him, because of programs he now chastises. According to Thomas, he felt out of place, as he felt everyone who saw him there knew he was there because of a quota. I understand how he feels, no self respecting person wants to be at a place where you got where you were because it was handed to you. However, how could you demean your degree? He might have been accepted because he was black, but people, he earned that degree. If you spend 2 – 5 yrs of your life getting a degree, then that only proves, you do belong (no matter how you got in). In addition, a degree from YALE or any degree should be blown up life size on your wall, the frame should be made of solid diamonds. Because no matter how you got in, you earned the right year after year, test after test, exam after exam, paper after paper, idiot advisors after idiot advisors, you have earned the right to call yourself, graduate.
With all this said, the man is embarrassed because, in an attempt to help him, he was made to feel “less”. This all goes back to the larger issue of equal rights and affirmative action. Personally, I do not believe in affirmative action, not because it gives advantage to one race over another, but because it excludes a large majority of the population.
In this country, racism is still prevalent (DUHHH), and persons are excluded from certain opportunities because of their race. Therefore, we need programs to provide a sort of balance for that prevalence. But by implementing programs predominantly for a particular race or women is wrong. What we are saying by implementing those programs is that been a minority is not mutually exclusive from been disadvantaged. What we should do is amend affirmative action laws, to include all disadvantaged individuals, exclusive of race.
Government programs in today’s society should not include mention of race or nationality, as this really is no longer helping minorities, but is only serving to perpetuate the stereotype that all minorities need help. I am not saying to get rid of programs that focus on minority, but we should expand the scope of these programs to exclude race, and advance the promotion of all disadvantaged members’ of society.
A friend of mine (white female), said to me (presumably joking), that I only got accepted in the internship/Coop program at my current place of employment, because they needed to fill their quota. Of course, I “corrected” that train of thought. However, thinking about it, if I was hired because I was black, I certainly earned the right to continue working there (2yrs now). There is no one, at this company (absolutely no one), that has a better employee evaluation record than I do (I have the highest evaluation possible), and in the two depts. that I have worked, none has the number of company recognition and awards as I do. When I was called in for the interview, I was originally hired to be a team member, but on the second interview (lasted 2.5 hrs) I was offered the team lead position.
And even though I might not end up having a career at this firm, I will always have this experience and company name recognition to back me up.
Moreover, that is one of the reason I can have confidence to say it was not that sort of hire (as suggested by friend and even beloved gf- jokingly of course). Nevertheless, such implications are common, and even though I would not care either way, others might feel differently.
In conclusion, Justice Thomas, did not do himself justice ( no pun intended) by doing the “60 minute” interview, he only reaffirmed peoples belief (mostly black), that he is a unworthy. But he is the result of racially targeted programs, a real catch 22.
