I-200 Debate Skewed by Misinformation
I-200 Debate Skewed by Misinformation Thursday, September 03, 1998 - Seattle Times
by Pat Herbold
Special to The Seattle Times
I NEVER shy away from an honest debate on an issue, but I am offended when the debate is skewed by misinformation. Emmett Watson, in his column on Aug. 18 ("I-200 supporters can't deny Title IX legacy") vilifies Initiative-200 supporters, then goes through a brief rendition of what Title IX has achieved for women in school athletics. He asks if I-200 supporters would like to repeal Title IX, implying that one has anything to do with the other.
They don't. Neither Title IX nor any other federal program would be repealed or prohibited by the passage of I-200, which speaks only to state and local actions which discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any person on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in public employment, contracting or education.
Watson states that every time you see a black man going to work at a good job, or a woman CEO, "think affirmative action." Excuse me! I can't speak for black men, and I may not be a CEO, but I don't want Watson or anyone else to think that whatever I've accomplished has been the result of quotas or preferences because I was unqualified to make it on my own.
Watson's elitist attitude is demeaning to minorities and women. As individuals, we can be as competent and qualified as anyone else, but as long as governments use preferences and set-asides based on race and gender groups, we will always be stigmatized by the belief - perfectly summed up by Watson's condescending quote, "think affirmative action" - that we are inferior and, therefore, need special, rather than equal, rights. Attitudes such as Watson's are patronizing and constitute one of the reasons I agreed to co-chair the I-200 campaign.
Pat Herbold resides in Bellevue.
Return to the I-200
page.
Return to the Affirmative Action
and Diversity Page
Carl
Gutiérrez-Jones
Department of English
University of California, Santa Barbara
e-mail: carlgj@humanitas.ucsb.edu