Blacksmythe

Jennifer Gratz one of the leaders in the fight against Affirmative Action in Michigan uttered the quote above in a Washington Post piece on end of Affirmative Action in Michigan.  Of the one thing she got right–Affirmative Action was an extremely conservative attempt to solve pressing issues of racial discrimination–the idea that diversity happens naturally without government intervention has got to be the “wrongest.”  School quality is correlated with neighborhood quality on the one hand, and on the socio-economic status of the parents (the mother specifically) on the other.  Neighborhoods in states like Michigan are racially segregated and segregated by class.

This process does not occur without a combination of private interest–white property values increase the whiter a neighborhood is because they value racial exclusivity–and government policy.  Many of the regions with the best schools in Michigan and elsewhere exist as a consequence of past racial discrimination perpetuated by government policy.  And while it is now illegal to use racial covenants and the like to ensure “racial purity” there are ways around it (racial “steering”, coded language in real estate paperwork) that ensure similar results.  Finally, the use of municipal zoning laws have been very effective at keeping low to moderate income families out of wealthier neighborhoods.  This is government.

Charles Mills argues that whites have created a consensual hallucination that is difficult for them to get out of.  Gratz is literally clueless about the ways that state policies create and maintain white supremacy because she (purposely) took the wrong pill.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

In no particular order:

• Blacks will support black Republican candidates under certain conditions

Blacks gave Steele in Maryland 30% of their vote.   Three times more than the black average.  The reason support for black republican candidates hasn’t been higher in the modern past is because the modern black republican veers so far to the right on economic issues that it is difficult for blacks to support them without buying into racism.  Steele stands out from his previous counterparts by his willingness to deal with black communities on their own terms.  Now inevitably his lack of policy prescriptions hurt him, but this is still a good day.

• Whites will support black candidates even in the South under certain conditions.

Ford lost to Coker in Tennessee (both were running for the seat vacated by Senator Frist), but only by 2%.  We’ve progressed enough where someone like Ford, who to be fair is both very conservative for a Democrat and also exceedingly fair-skinned, can garner votes not only from white liberals, but also from white racial conservatives.  Now this could be a function of the context–the throw the bums out rhetoric may have resounded so much with white voters that it didn’t matter.

And we now have a black governor of Massachusetts…though to be far Massachusetts has a decent history there.

• Racialized campaign ads still do damage

I believe that the ad that did Ford in was racist, though some of my colleagues disagree.  But see it for yourself.  Tali Mendelberg’s work indicates that the best way to respond to this type of ad is to condemn it directly.  Ford ends up losing undecideds at a rate of 3-1.  I think the ad was crucial here.

• Affirmative Action still riles white voters

Proposal 2 which bans Affirmative Action in college admissions, hiring, and contracts in Michigan passed by a significant margin.   This shouldn’t come as any surprise.  Michigan will likely find a work around–a number of straightforward options come to mind.   But expect a lot of short term hand wringing.  When I was there in undergrad there were about 700 of us.   Now there are around 4 times as much.   I expect the numbers to fall back to 700, probably less.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Over at Cobb, my boy Mike is arguing that Conservatism may be the saving grace of America and the West. I don’t expect to get a response from him because he’s got a job to do…but while conservatism very well may be the saving grace of the North (not the west), it’ll be because of its identity politics rather than because of its support for democracy, reason, and modernity. Quiet as its kept, conservatism as a philosophy stands against each of these. Political equality? Nope. Reason? Nope. Modernity? Nope.

Now I guess I could be persuaded to believe otherwise. But then again if you pressed hard enough you could convince me that the tigers lost last night.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

I was going to call this post “the best argument for conservatism I can think of” but the thing is that conservatism really isn’t about small government, it’s about small government for interests conservatives don’t support. Hence the change…

But anyway, the problems with Iraq, with Foley, with Afghanistan, all point to gross negligence, incompetence, and (in the Foley case) a crass desire for power that knows no end.

(An aside on the Foley issue. The Nation has an excellent piece on Foley arguing that if he would have been able to come out of the closet and be who he was then perhaps this would not have happened. For what it is worth I believe them to be right.)

Anyway. Let’s say that the entire political landscape was different, and the political interests that you as a voter prefer run the entire government…and that government does exactly what you want it to. If you knew that this government would not only be replaced by that of your political opponents, but they would be TOTALLY INCOMPETENT…how big would you want your government to be? The Republican Administration is the worst administration I have ever seen from top to bottom. They are incompetent, corrupt, and millenial. Not to mention classist, racist, sexist, etc. etc.

I believe in a government large enough to counter private corporate interests. But times like this? I want government to be small enough that these people (and those that voted for them) can’t do any more damage.

Bookmark It