This is a good metaphor for why programs and policies to support groups that have long suffered under bigotry are important. The bigots have been cheating the system for years, so just putting an end to the cheating doesn’t suddenly make the whole game fair. And of course, many people making anti-woke and anti-DEI arguments aren’t actually interested in playing fair at all.
Whites: 140
Blacks: 3
10 Seconds to GoA lot of people, most of them white, call affirmative action ”reverse discrimination” and wonder why black people shouldn’t be satisfied with a simple repudiation of discrimination of any kind. With its ruling striking down minority set-asides in city construction contracts, the Supreme Court seems to have decided that affirmative action programs in general violate white people’s right to equal protection.
But in case a majority of their honors might still have an open mind on the subject, I offer a little metaphor in affirmative action’s defense. It comes in the form of a football metaphor because I have a feeling that the conservative majority on the Rehnquist Court might appreciate a football metaphor. So here goes:
The White Team and the Black Team are playing the last football game of the season. The White Team owns the stadium, owns the referees and has been allowed to field nine times as many players. For almost four quarters, the White Team has cheated on every play and, as a consequence, the score is White Team 140, Black Team 3. Only 10 seconds remain in the game, but as the White quarterback huddles with his team before the final play, a light suddenly shines from his eyes.
”So how about it, boys?” he asks his men. ”What do you say from here on we play fair?”
Andrew Ward
The DEI Argument is Stupid. But Here’s How to Win It. (The Rip Current)
Scott Boehmer 