Achieving Diversity?
David Simon, recipient of the MacArthur Genius Grant, once said, “there are two Americas—separate, unequal, and no longer even acknowledging each other except on the barest cultural terms.” The hubris of the American people with regard to diversity policies results in a shortsightedness that must be addressed. Regrettably, the fixation of racism and discrimination has dominated the sociopolitical debate surrounding the bigger issue: economic inequality. Economic injustice creates hate, cultural deficiency,
Federally funded institutions have successfully implemented a new norm of achieving diversity through affirmative action, but this does little to help the Hispanic Americans and African Americans that are roughly two and three times, respectively, more likely to live in poverty than are white Americans. In the past, affirmative action was helpful and bold. Recent economic and social trends show it in another light, as flawed. Although capable of effectuating meaningful change, affirmative action has largely