King quote; "Reverse" Discrimination & Family Activity: Making Up Questions for the Midterm Exam

KING QUOTE: The following is the passage from Dr. King's book, "Stride Toward Freedom," which I quoted in class in connection with discussing the law as an indirect way to overcome prejudice.

"Government action is not the whole answer to the present crisis, but it is an important partial answer. Morals cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. The law cannot make an employer love me, but it can keep him from refusing to hire me because of the color of my skin. We must depend on religion and education to alter the errors of the heart and mind; but meanwhile it is an immoral act to compel a man to accept injustice until another man's heart is set straight. As the experience of several northern states has shown, antidiscrimination laws can provide powerful sanctions against this kind of immorality."

"Moreover, the law itself is a form of education."


"REVERSE" DISCRIMINATION (Since I got off on a few tangents talking about this, let me clarify my remarks on this questionable term.)

1. The definition of discrimination raises a question about the validity of the term "reverse" discrimination. The fact is, minorities by definition, do not wield that kind of power over the dominant group, unless many in the dominant group are won over to their cause.

a.) For example, affirmative action programs were adopted by majority white male decision-makers in government as well as in business, which continue to be areas dominated by white males. So, to call affirmative action an example of reverse discrimination is really a misnomer, because white males were largely responsible for putting these programs in place.

b.) And to suggest that affirmative action is on a par with discrimination in the past is a gross distortion of history. Clearly, there have been some problems with some affirmative action programs and some whites have been unfairly denied opportunities, but it is not as thorough-going as past discrimination which was often enforced by law. (NOTE: I neglected to make this point in class lecture.)

c.) Finally, on an individual level, I can understand where someone may feel that they were unfairly denied a position or promotion because of race, but in a broader sense I do not think the term reverse discrimination is legitimate.


FAMILY ACTIVITY: MAKING UP QUESTIONS FOR THE MIDTERM EXAM

As I announced in class, we are going to have our midterm exam on THURSDAY, OCT. 27TH. In preparation for that I want the families to make up some questions which I will consider for inclusion on this exam. More specifically, I want each of the families to make up FIVE short-answer questions from any material we have covered in class, on the blog, in xerox handouts, or through Chapter 2 in "Can We Talk About Race?" (which is a far as we should get before the midterm exam). By short-answer I mean direct questions that can be answered in a word, sentence, or a couple sentences at most. For example, I might ask you to briefly explain how race can be an illusion and yet profoundly real, which would be a 2-point question that could be answered in a couple sentences. Fill-in-the-blank questions are also acceptable. And you can make up multiple-point questions of 2, 3, or 4 points. Types of questions I will NOT accept are: True-False questions or multiple-choice questions. One way of thinking about this assignment is to put yourselves in my shoes: if you were teaching this course and presenting this material, what do you believe students ought to know?

As I mentioned in class this morning, you are certainly welcome to get together with your family on Thursday (10/13) even though I will not be there. But I will give you time in class next week to brainstorm questions with your family members. Once you decide on your five questions, I want a representative from each family to submit your questions (AND ANSWERS) to me in writing or via email NO LATER THAN 3PM THURSDAY, OCT. 20TH. I will read over your submissions and try to accept at least three questions from each family. You will earn a bonus point for each additional question I accept (so, if I accept all five, you will earn 2 bonus points, and you will have the added benefit of knowing more of the test). I WILL THEN POST THE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS I ACCEPTED ON THIS BLOG NO LATER THAN MONDAY, THE 24TH, SO YOU WILL HAVE THEM TO STUDY FOR THE MIDTERM, WHICH, AGAIN, WILL BE ON THURSDAY, THE 27TH. Finally, this exercise is worth 5 activity points, and you have to participate to earn those points.


That's all for now. See you next week and continue reading in "Can We Talk About Race?"