I Am Not A Minority Student

Rodriguez, R.  (1983). Hunger of memory.  New York:  Bantam Dell.  (autobiography)

Chapter 5: Profession (pg.99-119) 

"I believed it. For the first several years, I accepted the label. I certainly supported the racial civil rights movement; supported the goal of broadening access to higher education. But there was a problem: One day I listened approvingly to a government official defend affirmative action; the next day I realized the benefits of the program. I was the minority students the political activists shouted about at noontime rallies. Against their rhetoric, I stood out in relief, unrelieved. Knowing: I was not really more socially disadvantaged than the white graduate student in my classes. Knowing: I was not disadvantaged like many of the new nonwhite students who were entering college, lacking good early schooling" (Rodriguez, 101).

Richard Rodriguez is pretty straightforward about his opposition to affirmative action and being labeled as a minority. He sees this label as a handicap, and reverse discrimination. He states that Affirmative action benefits all minorities but does not take into account the "minorities" who were raised in middle-class homes and obtained a quality education prior to college. Rodriguez did not see himself as being disadvantaged. Therefore, there was no reason for the benefits of affirmative action to apply to him. Being considered a minority only makes people look like a charity case. In many cases, minorities are accepted into colleges and given positions in order to make a college or company appear more diverse. It completely eliminates meritocracy. Rather than minorities earning positions, they are handed positions despite the fact that they were already qualified. In a New York Times review by Le Anne Schreiber, she states that "The pity is that Mr. Rodriguez's very personal reservations about bilingual education and affirmative action will be conveniently taken up by some conservatives who do not also share his very personal concern for the people those programs are intended to help" (Schreiber, 1982). Schreiber is right! His opinions of affirmative action and bilingual education can easily be misconstrued as a way to disregard the fact that there is some racial inequality. However, when considering his viewpoints, we can't forget that he would have experienced

inequality on either side of the spectrum, whether he was educated or not. Whether we are against affirmative action or for it, we have to remember that both sides of the system are completely broken.