Starting Blocks Vs. Stumbling Blocks
“Well, I see white people are finally coming around on affirmative action,” the cabby said.
I had stuck pretty close to the house that weekend and I thought maybe I’d missed the news. “Did California repeal Prop 209?” I asked. “Has Hopwood been overturned?”
“I’m talking about the Colorado case,” the cabby said.
Actually, I had never heard of the Colorado case, but I wasn’t about to say that to the cabby. “There’ve been quite a number of Colorado cases,” I told him. “Precisely which Colorado case are you talking about?”
“Bolder Boulder v. Kenya,” he grinned, and the light slowly dawned. I had seen the report that the sponsors of the Bolder Boulder distance race had changed their rules to avoid having the annual event dominated by Kenyans. After all, six of the top finishers in last year’s competition were Kenyans, as were eight of the top 10 the year before that. I said I still wasn’t sure what that had to do with affirmative action, though.
“What do you mean you don’t see?” the cabby demanded. “Didn’t they used to let everybody run and then give the prize money to the winners? Now they’re saying only three Kenyans can enter …”
“I read the story,” I interrupted. “No country can have more than three entrants.”
“Unless it’s America,” the cabby said. “America can have as many as it wants. It’s their way of making sure that at least some of the prize money will go to Americans. And they don’t even have to prove that American runners have been discriminated against in the past. You think maybe they’ll take another look at Prop 209?”
“I hear you, but I don’t understand you,” I told the cabby. “Are you for or against what Bolder Boulder is doing?”
“I’m not sure,” the cabby said. “If you’re talking about opening up opportunities for people who are being shut out, naturally I’m for that. But if you’re talking about discriminating against Kenyans just because they’re so good …”
“Kinda like Asian American students on the West Coast,” I ventured.
“Well, yes and no,” the cabby said. “I saw the news stories that 343 fewer blacks have been admitted to U.C. Berkeley for next fall than last fall and more than 500 fewer Hispanics. But apparently, there’s been no significant increase in the number of whites and Asians. Matter of fact, the only noticeable increase I saw was in the number of people who refused to identify themselves racially. There were 627 of them last fall; 1,586 for next fall. I don’t get it.”
I told him it sounded like what the top official of U.S. Track and Field was saying about the Kenyan situation. “We’re not limiting opportunities for foreigners but creating opportunities for Americans,” is how Craig Masback put it.
“I heard him,” the cabby said, “but it doesn’t quite figure. If Kenyans have been the big winners in recent years and now they’re rigging things so there’ll be more American winners, doesn’t that limit opportunities for Kenyans?”
“But Jesse Jackson says you can open up more opportunities for African American students at Berkeley and UCLA - and also get them better prepared for the job market - without reducing opportunities for whites or Asians.”
“Makes sense to me,” the cabby said.
“So you’re for admitting more black students to the elite universities, even if they fall a little short on the established criteria?” I asked.
“Sure. We got a lot of catching up to do.”
“Then you must be for giving more trophies to American runners, even if they lag behind runners from other countries,” I said.
“If you’re asking me am I for discriminating against Kenyans because they train harder, take better care of themselves and run faster than Americans,” the cabby said, “the answer is no.”
“Even if it will deliver a winners’ circle that looks more like America?” I asked. “I must say, my friend, you seem a bit confused about what you do want. Let me just put it to you in the simplest terms I can: Are you for affirmative action or against it?”
“Yes,” he said.