The Sky Is NOT Falling

My friends, once again I find the need to step out of happy-fun mode, and don the cloak of the thinking man. Continue to read at your own risk.

Two days ago, Proposal 2 passed here in the state of Michigan. Proposal 2, more formally known as the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, was "a proposal to amend the state constitution to ban affirmative action programs that give preferential treatment to groups or individuals based on their race, gender, color, ethnicity or national origin for public employment, education or contracting purposes" (that is an actual quote of the ballot language). In other words, if you're applying for a government job or a scholarship at a public university, or if you're bidding on a government contract, there will no longer be preferences given for minorities or women; everyone will be treated the same. Sounds pretty straightforward, right? Nothing implies that anyone will be screwed over, or lose any rights that should be afforded to them.

But over the last two days, I have heard so many people, on the radio and TV, as well as in a social group that I'm in, saying things like "it's turning the clocks back fifty years", and so forth. Well, far be it from me to tell anyone which fictional character they should portray, but the Chicken Little routine is pretty ridiculous. The sky is NOT falling. We're not going back to separate drinking fountains, and nobody's giving up their seat on the bus.

Some people even said that Proposal 2 must be bad because it was endorsed by the KKK. First of all, if anyone thinks that a group of ignorant buffoons has any relevance in the 21st Century, they are truly living in a fantasy world. Furthermore... guess what? The KKK also endorses eating food and drinking water. Will we oppose those ideas as well? I personally couldn't care less what the KKK thinks or endorses, and I'd bet good money that most Americans share that opinion.

For over thirty years, we have been bending over backwards, masturbating to the guilt of wrongs that were committed by people who are no longer alive. Enough. Back in the 1970's, there was a compelling reason to say "Group X, you were treated unfairly, so this is our plan to fix that". I don't think anyone in their wildest dreams ever thought that that would be a permanent function. There is only so much fixing that needs to be done.

I'm not saying that there is no discrimination in the United States -- of course, there is, we all know it. What I am saying is that there are plenty of laws on the books to address discrimination, and all we need to do is to see that those laws are enforced.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

I think that's all that any reasonable person wants, a level playing field. And that's what Proposal 2 will give us.