There is a building pressure from the rabid right to enforce a termination of positive discrimination (affirmative action in US) to the disadvantage of Blacks. Their abusive argument goes something like this "it is unpopular; it encourages diversity; why should one group receive special attention; it is demeaning to treat Blacks as an underprivileged caste; race is a diminishing problem".
Taking each of their fallacious arguments in turn.
There may be some unpopularity in some circles ie among the white middle/upper classes and/or racists, but any supportive mechanism is critical in the ghettos of the US and England. There is much conversation about the volatility in earnings that the middle classes are experiencing due to shareholder capitalism but, for inner city Blacks, there is no volatility - grinding poverty with a complete lack of any safety nets is the lifelong unvarying norm. To propose a process to undermine the few remaining supportive structures for the poor is callous racism. Indeed, positive discrimination should be extended to cover all disenfranchised groups that exist at the sharp end of 1st World globalisation. Blacks would be stronger working with other economically disadvantaged communities; their voices would be louder and global; it would confront the divide-and-rule tactics foisted by institutions and economic pressures - it remains critical for any non-democratic system like shareholder capitalism, globalisation or slavery to split the masses and to encourage them to focus on one another as opposed to monitoring their system.
Secondly, the war of terror has been utilised by the right to launch a further war... on multiculturalism. There are very very few aspects of English culture that are worthy of note - England is a culture that doesn't do culture. On the occasions when I am required to be in England, all my pleasures exist as a direct and positive result of multiculturalism - food, music, sport, humour, art etc etc. Diversity is it! Multiculturalism may not have worked as well as it might but it takes two to tango and the sneering attitude of the vast majority of the English hosts is the main driver towards any lack of cultural crossover. The English are unwelcoming - my grandfather used to tell me how he was treated when he first arrived from Cork with rented accommodation posting signs saying "no Irish no Blacks". There's an inevitable reaction - when virtually every white face in any position of power is a hostile face, you quickly learn to avoid contact.
Thirdly, the only template that allows the acquiescent middle classes to feel comfortable with the systemic hierarchy is a misguided faith in meritocracy. This is a fallacy. The whole system is structured on reducing any resemblance to a level playing field. Success in England is highly dependent on where you were educated; which masonic lodge you belong to; where you network. Additionally, numerous incremental imbalances are built into the system - job perks for the elite (cheaper hotels, car hire, freebies etc); regressive taxation; expensive transfer of capital for the hordes of the global poor whose families depend on remittances sent back home (the exchange rates and charges justified by Moneygram and Western Union are criminal - frequently less than 75% of your hard earned wages reach the recipient); expensive insurance and/or an inability to afford insurance; the omnipresence of loan companies trying to get you to consolidate your debts so that you can be entertained in one of England's shiny new private prisons. These are all positive discriminations mainly in favour of white middle and upper classes - it would seem to be a far greater benefit to society as a whole to deconstruct these positive discriminations as opposed to the ones that favour the disadvantaged in some small way. The system does not allow a meritocratic route for Black people. Neo-con schemes eg school vouchers and charter schools exist merely to cream off the acquiescent and obedient brains while leaving the masses to struggle through a lifetime of poverty. The poor, and poor Blacks in particular, need a quality education and available career paths with strong supportive infrastructure to democratise the economic workplace. In 1998, the average life expectancy of a Black man in Harlem was 46 - this is less than Cambodia or Sudan. Positive discrimination in favour of Blacks is vital.
Fourthly and obviously, positive discrimination doesn't treat Blacks as an underprivileged caste, the entire system of globalised shareholder capitalism manages that quite well on it's own, thank you very much. We argued in a previous post that "through it's choice of target, globalisation is a racist system" (see: http://footballisfixed.blogspot.com/2007/01/gift-of-black-folk.html). The whole structure is demeaning to Blacks. Using positive discrimination as a focus is merely creative doublethink.
The final claim of the rabid right regarding race becoming a peripheral issue needs a myopic view that one would hope only exists in the private clubs and lodges, parliament, golf course clubhouses, Henley... that sort of environment. When I visit England, I'm not so sure though...
In the words of Martin Luther King "we must realise that so many people are taught to hate us that they are not totally responsible for their hate".
