Are Quotas Really The Problem?

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In the rhetorical quagmire of the racial-quota debate, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that virtually all Americans abhor brazen racial favoritism. Blacks, whites, Democrats and Republicans alike passionately believe in the meritocracy, but radically disagree on whether we are becoming one.

Most nonwhite Americans know, deep in their bones, that the deck is unfairly stacked against them, while most whites know, with absolute certainty, that such is profoundly untrue, or at least that whatever discrimination exists is, - for the most part, justified. That difference in perspective will endure long after the House-passed civil rights legislation is killed, compromised or enacted into law, for the fundamental discord is not over quotas but over the aptitude of those classed as racial minorities. Non-"Anglos" may not typically be tapped to run FORTUNE 500 companies or manage professional sports teams, but the reason -- many whites quietly believe -- has less to do with racial bias than with the failure of such groups to measure up. Those sentiments are, of course, rarely voiced in polite society. When they are (as by the likes of former Los Angeles Dodgers vice president Al Campanis, who observed that blacks lack "necessities"), condemnation is quick and merciless. Americans, after all, draw little pleasure from hurting people's feelings, especially those of the self-declared downtrodden. Such solicitude, however, does not translate into acceptance of affirmative action, which is widely perceived as little more than the elevation of incompetents beyond their ability.

Of course, everyone knows that occasional preferential treatment is inescapable; but when the beneficiary is a white male, we have a way of assuming that the basic ability exists, that in time the ambitious go-getter will grow into his unearned station. Even when qualifications are so slight (witness Dan Quayle) as to make a presumption of merit difficult, we tend to see the incident as an aberration in a system that by and large works the way it should.

Favoritism toward minorities is viewed differently, because they themselves are viewed differently. A nationwide survey last year by the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center found three-fourths of white respondents agreeing that blacks were more likely than whites to prefer welfare to employment. Blacks were also thought likely to be lazy, violent and unintelligent. Hispanics were viewed in an equally negative light, and Asian Americans were seen as not much better. Obviously, if minority citizens are fundamentally flawed it is better to discriminate against them than against whites. Even if in the process a few deserving minorities are pushed aside, the meritocracy's essential integrity is maintained. To countless whites, such a rationalization of racial bias is morally defensible -- while naked racism is not.