Affirmative Action in Higher Ed Admissions Still Holds for Now, But Don't Get Too Excited . . . . (Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin)

I have to admit it -- I've been more interested in the U.S. Supreme Court's upcoming decisions on same-sex marriage and DOMA than I have been in the affirmative action in higher education case decided today, Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin.  When it comes to affirmative action in higher education, I guess I'm just battle weary.  I fully expect that, like the T-Rex testing the electric fence in "Jurassic Park," the opponents of affirmative action will, at some point, happen upon a persuasive theory and a receptive Supreme Court majority and do away with affirmative action.  I'm way past holding my breath each time an affirmative action in higher education case reaches the Supreme Court.

As you can imagine, I was pleasantly surprised that the Supreme Court didn't strike down affirmative action in higher education in its entirety.  This case came to the Supreme Court as a result of summary judgment solely on the issue whether the consideration of race in admissions violated the Equal Protection Clause.  The Court tacitly upheld the proposition of diversity as a compelling state interest in higher education as part of a university's education mission, which was posited by the late Justice Powell in Bakke v. University of California.  The inroad, if any, made by plaintiff Abigail Fisher was that the Supreme Court held that the courts below failed to subject the University of Texas' consideration of race to strict scrutiny to determine whether it was narrowly tailored enough to achieve the diversity objective, i.e., whether any other approaches that don't involve the consideration of race could also achieve the diversity the University of Texas was seeking.  The case was remanded to the lower court for that more searching inquiry into the University of Texas' admissions program.

Proponents of affirmative action believe they've dodged a bullet.

I say don't get too excited.

Writing for the majority, Justice (and Sacramento homie) Anthony Kennedy pointed out one very important thing:  The parties did not ask the Court to consider whether diversity in higher education is still a compelling state interest that would survive the strict scrutiny analysis used when the government bases a decision in whole or in part on race.  Justice Kennedy noted that the District Court and the Court of Appeals were correct in finding that Grutter v. Bollinger called for courts' "deference" to a university's judgment that diversity is essential to its educational mission.

Them Justice Kennedy pointed out the way for the next challenge: "But the parties here do not ask the Court to revisit that aspect of Grutter's holding."

And that is precisely why the proponents of affirmative action should not get too excited. 

The next challenge to affirmative action cannot succeed, IMHO, without taking down diversity as a compelling state interest in higher education.  Justice Kennedy has pointed out the theory - revisiting "that aspect of Grutter's holding" that a university's judgment that diversity is essential to its educational mission is due deference by the courts.  The only remaining hurdles are a receptive Supreme Court majority and some disgruntled applicant who thinks that some minority applicant "took" an admissions spot he thinks he should have had. 

Maybe I'm just too battle weary and cynical when it comes to affirmative action in higher education.  I can't help but think that the end of affirmative action in higher education will happen in my lifetime and we might as well get prepared for it.

I hope I'm wrong.

 

If We Could Forgive George Wallace . . . . (A Conversation with Black Folks About Paula Deen)

Hi Black Folks,

Can we talk about Paula Deen?  Quite frankly, the question of forgiving Paula Deen for using the N-word in the past is, IMHO, a conversation that needs to reside within the black community since that word is used to demean us and strip us of our humanity.  So for all of my non-white readers, please excuse us while we black folks have a conversation about forgiving Paula Deen.

Oh, and for those of you black folks who routinely use the N-word -- rappers and the like -- you're excused from the conversation.  As far as I'm concerned, you're part of the problem.  I don't take a "do as I say, not as I do" attitude towards the N-word.  To my mind, there is no acceptable use of the word.  So, as far as I'm concerned, you have no place in this conversation, either.

Now, down to brass tacks.  First, I'll admit my bias.  I'm a Paula Deen fan.  I like her wit, her charm, her grit, her backstory of overcoming adversity and taking her greatest talent and making something of it.

I also adore her Grandmother Paul's Sour Cream Pound Cake recipe.  More on that later.

For now, the question we black folks "for true," to borrow a turn of phrase from our elders, should ask ourselves is this:  If we could forgive George Wallace, can we (or why can't we) forgive Paula Deen?

Mind you, racism is racism.  Governor George Wallace standing in the door of the University of Alabama stating, "Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever," was as about as in-your-face with racism as one could get.  Yet, black folks forgave him and voted him back into office.  I've said it time and again -- we black folks are the most forgiving people on the planet.  We have to be given that we live side-by-side with the very folks who fomented our mistreatment.  George Wallace's political second act is a testament to black forgiveness.

That said, insidious racism on the down-low -- the kind Paula Deen is alleged to have practiced -- is the worst because it's shielded.  It's like being attacked from an unexpected source, especially one whose image is that of home cookin' and Southern hospitality.  Not white hospitality, Southern hospitality.  Anyone who's ever lived in the South knows there are no more hospitable people on the planet than Southerners of any race.

We as black folks can't answer the question whether we should forgive Paula Deen until we're sure what we're forgiving her for.  In her deposition, Paula Deen admitted under oath to using the N-word in the past.  She did not admit to using it in the manner alleged in the racial discrimination lawsuit against her -- her description of black men who were to serve as waiters at her brother's wedding using the N-word.  If indeed she did use the N-word as alleged in the lawsuit, perhaps she does not merit forgiveness because she hasn't really come to terms with her racism.  For me, forgiveness isn't just about what you did, but whether you have the potential to learn from it and not do it again.  Perhaps that's why black folks in Alabama forgave George Wallace -- the perception that he learned from his mistake and had the potential not to make the same mistake again.

My fervent hope is that Paula Deen isn't the racist she's portrayed to be and, if she is, she'll come clean about it, settle the lawsuit, and use this mistake as an opportunity to confront her racism and educate other whites who are racist about theirs.  If she does, she will be worthy of forgiveness.

And if she is forgiven by us black folks, I hope she'll stick to cooking.  I've made a lot of pound cakes in my life and tried a lot of recipes, including my owner mother's, and no pound cake I've ever tried, whether from a bakery or a home cook, comes close to Paula Deen's Grandmother Paul's Sour Cream Pound cake.  I've taken that pound cake to family outings and had it literally snatched off the table along with the plate it arrived on.  It's THAT good. 

In a perfect world, Paula Deen would go on Oprah's Next Chapter, admit all the times she's used the N-word, get forgiven by Oprah, and OWN would pick up her cooking shows, putting Deen in the curious position of having her ass saved by a black woman -- a Southern black woman, no less.

Should black folks forgive Paula Deen?  Time will tell.  In the meantime, download that pound cake recipe before the Food Network takes it off their website and make one while you think about forgiving her.

The Makena Monologues, Part I: The Power of Rejuvenation

*Note:  This is the first in a series of entries I wrote in my journal at the Makena Beach and Golf Resort, Maui, Hawai'i.  The occasion was the week of my 50th birthday and Black Man Not Blogging's (BMNB) and my 10th wedding anniversary.

May 25, 2013

The weeks leading up to our sojourn were stressful.  I have been under the gun at work, being micromanaged and challenged, working crazy hours.  BMNB was pretty much left on his own to take care of himself and his mom.  I was doing well to shower and get to work.  We also had some major financial decisions to make in short order that were stressing us both out.

My life was waaay out of balance.  I think both our lives were.  I kept saying over and over, "I just need everything to stop."

The only reason we went on this vacation we really couldn't afford was we both decided we could not let the demands and stresses of our lives make us not take time to mark our ten years together as a married couple and my 50th birthday.  I was resolute that this would be a vacation when I was absolutely NOT going to be available to be reached by phone by my bosses as I had been the last time I went out of town for more than two days.  BMNB was so resolute that my job would not interfere with our departure that he made a threat that was so out of character for him:  "If your bosses even think about getting in the way of our vacation, I'ma come up on your job and act a fool."

Indeed.

It took a lot of late nights to clear my desk, but I did.  And then something magical happened.

We landed in Maui.

There's something about landing at the Kahului Airport that, even with its hustle and bustle, takes your blood pressure down about twenty points.  The open air design, the palm trees swaying in the breeze, the smell of the ocean and plumeria in the wind just relax you.  Everyone here is either on vacation or lives here, so either way, they're happy.

After getting our rental car and grabbing a quick bite to eat, we arrived at our hotel.  Our travel agent at Costco.com -- yes, Costco.com -- snagged us a free room upgrade on the highest floor with an ocean view.  When I stepped out on the lanai and saw the beautiful grounds and the ocean, I got my wish.

Everything stopped.  And that's exactly what I needed.

I don't know about you, but I grew up in a family that didn't take vacations.  My dad didn't believe in them and, truth be told, he probably couldn't afford to take his brood of six kids on vacation anyway.  I think my late mom, SWIE (She Who Is Exalted), longed to travel but just accepted her vacation-less fate as part and parcel of being married to my dad.

Even in the less than twenty-four hours we've been here, I can already feel the difference in my body.  I'm rested.  I'm calm.  Everything has stopped.

Like BMNB always says, we're not machines.  Vacations, and the rejuvenation they bring, aren't just for those who are unable to cope.  They are, in fact, for those wise enough to know that rejuvenation is part of being able to cope.

I think there is just something in the culture of the generation of black parents like mine that says you just need to tough out your life's circumstances and look for your reward in the afterlife.

I disagree.

I don't think God put us here to work perpetually and stressfully until we die.  I think He put each and every one of us here to accomplish a purpose, and it's up to us to manage and maintain our health and mental well-being in order to accomplish His purpose for us.  Rejuvenation is part of that management and maintenance, IMHO.  Or put another way, if God didn't want us to take vacations and rejuvenate ourselves, he wouldn't have given us Maui.

So, Gentle Readers, take your vacations. Travel.  Rest.  Rejuvenate. 

As I told BMNB, it's sad that I had to travel thousands of miles to get a long and good night's sleep, but boy, was it worth it.

Aloha.

Here's to the Lionesses (Primary Breadwinner Women)

The Pew Research Center analyzed U.S. Census Bureau data and found that, in 40% of American families, a woman is the primary or sole breadwinner.  I briefly saw a clip from Fox News in which Megyn Kelly was giving a smackdown to some male talking head who said that it wasn't the natural order of things for women to be in this position.  I couldn't stand to watch the rest of the clip.

Not natural?  Tell that to the lionesses.

In nature, lionesses are the primary meatwinner -- I say "meatwinner" because lions ain't eating bread out on the savannah -- for their families.  The male lion is pretty much, well, useless, except for breeding.  With all that useless hair upside his head, he throws off the hunt by announcing his presence.  It's pretty much the lionesses -- basically one woman and her sisters -- bringing down the zebra and antelope and whatnot.

That's nature for real.  Ask the lionesses, or a female bear, for that matter.

What disturbs me more is the idea of men talking heads criticizing women for doing what they need to do, in the words of the Beverly Hillbillies theme song, " to keep their families fed."  In a perfect world, men and women (or women and women or men and men) would share equally in the money earning and cooking and cleaning, etc.  We women didn't make this imperfect world; we're just trying to make it better.  Truth be told, what else could be expected once women started graduating college and entering graduate and professional programs in numbers equal to or exceeding the numbers of men?  Did you expect women to not maximize our earning potential when many of us have student loan debt to service in addition to feeding families? 

Instead of criticizing these women who are primary breadwinners, or bemoaning the demise of society, we need to applaud these women for stepping up and handling their business.  If they were on welfare and staying at home with their kids, haters and Fox News talking heads would still be criticizing them. 

In nature, if you want to eat, you're better off relying on a woman.  That's nature for real.

Here's to the lionesses.