Is economist and professor Walter Williams correct when he argues affirmative action does blacks no favors?

Question

I think so, but what do you think? See attached link.

http://townhall.com/columnists/WalterEWilliams/2008/09/03/academic_mismatch_i

Dr. Williams serves on the faculty of George Mason University as John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics and is the author of More Liberty Means Less Government: Our Founders Knew This Well.

Answer 1

it may have helped a few but there is nothing like getting ahead on your own.. if someone gives u a car or u work hard and buy your own. which one will u cherish the most?

Answer 2

Yup.

And Wally Wms. is the WORST kind of nightmare for the wacky far-left wingnuts: A black man making sense! Tom Sowell drives 'em bugf**k, too. lol

Answer 3

YES

Answer 4

White establishments fear of affirmative action keeps then honest and although they may want to discriminate against blacks they often do not under the precedent that AA has set.

It was a huge success and is continuing to be one. It should be in place for at least the next 40-50 years.

Dr Fell, I would argue that HB-1 visas are far more successful in taking jobs away from competent whites than A Action has ever been.

Answer 5

No, i think going to college still benefits blacks.  it exposes them to the white world and hopefully still educates them.  My experience has been that although the black students were totally unprepared for college, the adapted and performed better over their time there.  

I went to a top 25 school and in most of my classes skin darker than Geraldos meant a guaranteed c+.  The blacks knew they didnt have to show up to some classes.  The average student had a 1250 on their SATs, but i knew a black girl who got in free with an 800.  

It is a shame that another person who studied hard and deserved a better education could not receive one because this person was accepted.  

Answer 6

Professor Williams is correct.  I have known several African-Americans who were hired under Affirmative Action who ultimately ended up quitting their jobs.  The interesting thing is only one that I know lost his job because he really wasn't qualified.  The rest ended up quitting for personal reasons.  I think some of them may have felt they didn't earn it, but I also believe many of them didn't get the respect they felt they deserved.  That's a hard cavern to bridge -- would you respect someone who got a job because the company had a quota to fill?

Answer 7

All it does is take jobs away from competent whites that worked hard to be able to secure the job that the black got just because they are black. It needs to end and the blacks need to start to value education and start working hard to make the same achievements as the rest of the hard workers out there.  

Answer 8

Contrary to popular belief, African Americans are not the sole, or even the primary, beneficiaries of affirmative action. Rather, a wide range of groups have benefited from these polocies which promote equality by directing resources, outreach and other opportunities to targeted underrepresented communities.

These groups include women, Native Americans, Arab Americans, Latino/as, Asian Americans, and African Americans. Of these groups, the United States Department of Labor found that white women are the primary beneficiaries of affirmative action. The Department of Labor estimated that 6 million women workers are in higher occupational classifications today than they would have been without affirmative action policies.

Gender based affirmative action policies that benefit women run the gamut from science camps for girls to policies at the Universities that promote the enrollment of women in engineering programs to breast cancer screenings and women-only domestic violence shelters.

Outreach, recruitment, and scholarships for women ecourage participation in fields like medicine, science, computers and engineering,fields in which they are seriously underrepresented

Government outreach programs ensure that women and minority owned businesses have a fair chance to secure government contracts.

Studies show that affirmative action has brought about significant benefit to women. For example, Between 1972 and 1993:

The percentage of women architects increased from 3% to nearly 19% of the total;

The percentage of women doctors more than doubled from 10% to 22% of all doctors;

The percentage of women lawyers grew from 4% to 23% of the national total;

The percentage of female engineers went from less than 1% to nearly 9%;

The percentage of female chemists grew from 10% to 30% of all chemists; and,

The percentage of female college faculty went from 28% to 42% of all faculty.

White Women have been the biggest beneficiaries. Blacks, with only 14 percent and Latinos with 16 percent of the population, hardly can match the power or influence of White women, a whopping 51 percent or the population, and white women have links to White men.

Lastly, the professor you cite fails to mention that most students attending second tier school regardless of race tend to perform better on the LSAT than thier top tier cohorts.