Posted on 09/10/2008 5:14:35 PM PDT by flowerplough
In his 19 years as a law professor at UCLA, Richard Sander has pondered a nagging question: Does affirmative action help or hinder African Americans who want to become lawyers?
Two years ago, he published research suggesting that racial preferences at law firms might be responsible for black lawyers' high rate of attrition and difficulty making partner. He hypothesized that in the interest of promoting diversity, law firms sometimes hired black lawyers who were underqualified, and that when there was a "credentials gap" between black and white lawyers at a firm, black lawyers often were less likely to advance and more likely to leave the firm.
The research stirred debate throughout the legal community, and Sander said he was surprised at the vehemence with which people attacked his motives. A former Volunteers in Service to America participant, fair-housing activist and campaigner for Chicago's first black mayor, Sander, who is white, insisted he was simply trying to examine an important question.
( ... )
In the end, he hopes to explain why, as reported in a Law School Admissions Council study in the 1990s, blacks are four times as likely as whites to fail the bar exam on the first try.
The state bar has refused to facilitate his probe. Citing privacy concerns, the bar has denied him access to detailed demographic data collected from exam-takers since 1972.
Many lawyers, scholars and diversity advocates have applauded the bar's action.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Affirmative action hurts everyone across the board
affirmative action negates qualification
Giving someone a title because of the color of thier skin first and experience second, in some physical jobs could be very dangerous for all involved
The change must occur at the cultural/home level. Black families must take academic study seriously, like other minorities do. Accept no failure, no excuse. Then the black children will be ready for college (and life) and succeed.
You nailed it dead center! Well done!
LLS
I’m waiting for Obama to trial balloon a “divine right” theme. He thinks he’s owed the Oval Office and he’s already demonstrated arrogance in the religion department.
Here sure as heck hurts the people they represent after they begin a practice.
"Hey! I'm not some right-winger! I should be allowed academic freedom."
“He hypothesized that in the interest of promoting diversity, law firms sometimes hired black lawyers who were underqualified”
Isn’t that the definition of “affirmative action”?
It hurts because the student will never believe he is at the same level as his peers. It’s an insult to students and says they have failed to meet high standards.
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