President has wrong school in cross hairs President has wrong school in cross hairs
If President Bush wanted to attack quotas in college admissions, he should have started with the U.S. Military Academy, which the federal government operates. Unlike the University of Michigan, West Point has an actual numerical goal for the number of black students admitted to its ranks. And while they don't use numerical targets, the Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy also employ affirmative action policies in their admissions. So why didn't Bush denounce the service academies instead of going after the University of Michigan, which doesn't use quotas? After all, the president is commander-in-chief, and the service academies fall under his authority.
Could it be that the president knew he would have run into opposition from military officers who defend affirmative action at the service academies? According to The New York Times, a group of distinguished retired military officers is preparing a legal brief supporting Michigan's affirmative action policies. The military officers have entered the fray because they understand that an adverse Supreme Court ruling in the Michigan case could also force the service academies to dismantle their affirmative action programs.
The service academies use the same logic to defend their use of affirmative action in admissions that other major colleges and universities use: They want a diverse student body that reflects the nation. "We like to represent the society we come from. . . . " Col. Michael L. Jones, dean of admissions at West Point, told the Times. "We want people to understand the society they will defend." Each year, West Point aims for a class that is 10 to 12 percent African-American but ends up, despite its affirmative action policies, with only 7 to 9 percent African-American representation, Jones said. The service academies have an additional reason for supporting diversity in admissions:
With enlisted military ranks disproportionately dependent on racial minorities -- from an Air Force whose enlisted personnel are 28 percent minority to an Army with 44 percent -- an all-white officer corps would hurt morale, military experts say. President Bush and other conservatives often offer the U.S. military forces as an excellent example of integration in America, suggesting that diversity in the officer corps has come about through individual accomplishment alone. But that's just not true. Without affirmative action, the services academies would be quite white.
And Colin Powell would not have had the chance for the advancement that led to his eventual post as secretary of state. At one point in the late 1970s, Powell had been overlooked for a promotion to brigadier general. Clifford Alexander, then secretary of the Army, held up the promotions list, ordering the General Officer Board to take a second look for black officers who were unfairly passed over. The second time, the list included Powell's name, as well as other black colonels.
Without Alexander's affirmative effort, Powell's career may have been stalled. Even conservatives don't dare suggest the military is putting unqualified officers of color in command positions; Bush probably didn't intend to open a debate over affirmative action at the service academies. He just wanted to score some cheap and easy political points with his ultraconservative base.
But demagoguery on racial issues can come back to haunt you, as Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue has discovered. He lambasted the vote that exiled the old state flag with its prominent Confederate battle emblem because he needed the votes of the state's "fergit, hell" crowd. Now, however, the flag controversy threatens to dog him throughout his term in office. In similar fashion, the president may find that the debate over affirmative action in college admissions takes him places he didn't intend to go -- such as West Point.
Cynthia Tucker is the editorial page editor.
Her column appears Wednesdays and Sundays.
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