THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, June 5, 1995 TAG: 9506030389
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A4 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
PART TWO
BUSINESS
SOURCE: Lon Wagner
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
To understand the tension affirmative action has brought to offices, shipyards and factories in Hampton Roads and across the country, it's helpful to listen to the logic from opposite poles.
On the West Coast, and from the right, comes Frederick R. Lynch, senior research associate at Claremont McKenna College, California, author of ``Invisible Victims: White Males and the Crisis of Affirmative Action.'' Lynch argues that until now, affirmative action has not been covered by the media because ``they were afraid of being called racists, wimps or whiners.''
``Here's the incredible thing,'' Lynch says. ``The biggest social engineering project of the 20th century - to redistribute wealth by educational and occupational opportunities - has gone uncovered.''
On the East Coast, and from the left, comes Major G. Coleman, assistant professor of political science, University of Buffalo, who believes ``if you're hiring all these blacks and they're just as productive as whites, you're not doing anything.''
Coleman wants to see: laws requiring employers to have hiring policies ``that favor black employees''; a divergence in hiring that does not follow labor market shifts - in other words a company should say, ``Even though we're not hiring generally, we're hiring blacks''; and a penalty for companies that practice reverse discrimination.
To truly act affirmatively, Coleman argues, a company should hire, train and promote unskilled, uneducated minorities. Affirmative action has yet to be enacted because the minority underclass has not benefited from it, he says.
Wouldn't many people say Coleman's ideas go too far?
``Not only would they say that, a lot of people have said that,'' Coleman says, chuckling. ``The Congress has said that. The Supreme Court has said that.''
Coleman has no problem with quotas, and he advocates a ``domestic Marshall Plan'' he estimates would cost the equivalent of one year of the gross domestic product, more than $5 trillion.
Lynch says ``so-called voluntary'' affirmative action programs are pervasive in American industry because they are used as defensive mechanisms against lawsuits.
``A lot of companies have learned that it's good to have an affirmative action program on the books and do a certain amount of hiring,'' Lynch says, ``so if you get sued, the EEOC will shield you.''
Lynch says affirmative action is based on flawed premises:
That inequality necessarily results from discrimination. Differences in incomes, occupations and education aren't necessarily due to discrimination.
That nonblack minorities are included in the programs. On what basis should Hispanics, Asians or homosexuals be included in programs that seek ``redress through quotas, preferential treatment, or proportional representation?''
He also says affirmative action programs cause conflict in the work place, because nonminorities perceive reverse discrimination when told they lost a job ``due to an arbitrary criteria.''
And the entire affirmative action debate has been politicized to the point where there is little honest discussion, at least from the white male perspective, Lynch says.
``I'm sort of out there on the ice all alone,'' Lynch says of his opinions. ``That tells you a lot about political correctness: You don't ask questions about these things. Either you applaud or you shut up.''
KEYWORDS: AFFIRMATIVE ACTION by CNB