Arizona to Vote on Affirmative Action Measure

by Daniel L. Bennett

The Arizona Senate passed a measure yesterday that will leave it up to the voters to decide whether affirmative action preferences should be banned in public college admissions practices (as well as employment decisions in the Arizona public sector). If banned, education and employment decisions that grant preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin would be prohibited. Kudos to Arizona for being practitioners of democracy and leaving it up to the people to decide.

However, in light of the recent allegations against the University of Illinois, it seems that family and political connections ought to be included in the list of banned preferential treatment as well... if the aim is to truly reward merit and promote egalitarianism. I've said this before and I'll say it again: I support equal opportunity, just not equal entitlement and certainly not a quota system.