Intelligence Squared Holds Oxford-Style Debate on Affirmative Action

On Wednesday, Intelligence Squared U.S., a New York-based initiative designed to raise the level of public discourse, announced the results of last night's debate on the motion, "It's time to end affirmative action."

A sold-out audience at Asia Society and Museum, New York City, voted 39% for the motion and 55% against at the conclusion of the debate. 6% were undecided.

At the start of Tuesday's debate, the audience voted 34% for the motion that it's time to end affirmative action, with 44% against and 22% undecided.

The Oxford style, three-on-three debate series is sponsored by the Rosenkranz Foundation, established in 1985 to encourage the highest level of achievement and innovation in public policy, higher education, and the arts.

"This was another terrific, spirited Intelligence Squared U.S. debate, with a great panel who really brought depth and intelligence to the subject. Our audience keeps proving they can't be grouped along typical partisan lines," said Robert Rosenkranz, chairman of The Rosenkranz Foundation.

Those who support the ending of affirmative action include black linguistics professor John H. McWhorter of the Manhattan Institute, who was on the panel last night.

McWhorter has been an outspoken critic of many aspects of black Americans' culture, and has himself been laughed at, ridiculed, and vilified for saying things that, he feels, most black Americans need to-but don't want to-hear.

Among his criticisms of black American culture, he asserts that blacks are into self-sabotage and are "obsessed with victimhood".

"Affirmative action is an obsolete policy to lower standards in order to create a black middle class. This class finally exists and it's incredibly enormous," wrote McWhorter in 2000.

In an autobiography published a couple of months ago, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas asserted that he did not need Affirmative Action programs to become the first black Justice ever appointed to the Court.

Critics of Affirmative Action programs have long maintained that it amounts to nothing more than reverse discrimination which, in practice, violates its own Equal Protection Clause and pulls the rug out beneath the incentive for those in favored groups to rise to their highest potential, which ends up harming them and the society as a whole.

What's more, they contend, the accomplishments of the members of favored groups are diminished in importance while hostility is increased between them and people of non-favored groups-which, in the United States, essentially means white males.

However, the audience in New York City last night seemed to still ultimately favor following former President Bill Clinton's Affirmative Action dictum of "mend it-don't end it".

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