Boy, I had a hell of a day with KTLK today. While the station often discusses issues I know little about, this topic was right up my alley. Affirmative action was never as heated a debate as one of gay marriage, abortion, or the death penalty, but was enough to get Mr Ferguson all riled up and even interrupting his callers to get his own point across.
For those reading this who aren't as much into politics, affirmative action according to Princeton University online is "a policy designed to redress past discrimination against women and minority groups through measures to improve their economic and educational opportunities." This concept was first put into use by John F Kennedy in 1965 (don't say you never learned nothin' from my articles :)) when it was used as a measure to achieve non-discrimination. The last fact was taken off Wikipedia, however. In my experience, though, I've never gotten false information off that site.
On his show today, Mr Ferguson was taking on callers to dare prove him wrong that affirmative action is a menace to society (my words, though, not his). Interestingly enough, the first caller was a white gay man who called in trying to convince Ben to change his stance and see the positive in affirmative action. Thirty minute-or-so into the call, the man backed down and admitted that his own mind was changed. This happened soon after that Ferguson got him to confess that he got his job NOT because he was gay, but for his qualifications (the caller didn't get too far into what those talents were, so that's a toss-up).
The next caller started right off-bat bashing AA, so not much to gather from that discussion. But the third caller is when all hell broke loose. This is why I like political radio, ladies and gentlemen, for conversations that do get slightly heated in a controlled, safe environment. The last caller on this topic that I recall was saying that, as a black man, he cannot get to voice his opinions in the workplace, if I understood him right, without the help of AA. Mr F got quite a bit work worked up by now and it was hard to get the caller's details of where he worked and how he came to this conclusion. But he basically stated that he was scared to speak his mind at work, and that affirmative action was his safety harness, parachute, what have you.
The ironic part was that Mr Ferguson took his words slightly out of context and defended himself from being a racist by counting off all the minorities he had on his show - whether interns or producers, it was ironic to the point of laughter. The caller didn't seem to personally attack Mr F, but to say that he believes affirmative action helps him from being fired simply for speaking his mind.
Whether or not that's true is the pinnacle of this debate. This is where you, my readers, come in. Please, comment for your own involvement on AA, or someone you know.
I'll add my own two cents - I agree with Ben Ferguson, affirmative action to me is apt to turn people against each other. Ferguson mentioned on the program that as long as this law is in stated, any random student might suspect that his classmate, friend, or roommate is only accepted into the same school for the color of his skin or culture. In most cases it's likely to be untrue, but it's this tension that will probably come out from nowhere that proves AA to be more hurtful than not.
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