WP's Eugene Robinson: "A Question Of Race Vs. Class - Affirmative Action For the Obama Girls?"

[Pirate Smile]

A Question Of Race Vs. Class
Affirmative Action For the Obama Girls?

By Eugene Robinson
Tuesday, May 15, 2007; Page A15

Barack Obama doesn't think anyone should cut his two daughters any slack when they apply to college -- not because of their race, at least. In the unlikely event that the Obama family goes broke, then maybe.

In an interview broadcast Sunday on ABC's "This Week," Obama waded into the central issue of the affirmative action debate: race vs. class. Perhaps typically, Obama's remarks were more Socratic than declarative. He didn't really answer the question, he rephrased it. Maybe the way he posed it, though, will lead to a discussion that's long overdue.

George Stephanopoulos asked Obama whether his daughters should be able to benefit from affirmative action when the time comes for them to go to college. The girls "should probably be treated by any admissions officer as folks who are pretty advantaged," Obama said.

Stephanopoulos was driving at the question of whether race-based affirmative action programs are still needed. Another way to frame the issue is whether race or class is the more important factor in our society. Are minorities who are raised in middle-class or wealthy homes still held back by racism? Or should we now focus on socioeconomic status as the principal barrier keeping people from reaching their potential?

Obama's answer, basically, was yes. To both questions.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/14/AR2007051401233.html

[illinoisprogressive]

1. Big news. anyone who watched knew that, Eugene.