In a recent Zogby interactive survey of adults nationwide, respondents were asked to choose a statement that comes closest to their personal beliefs on affirmative action. About 26% of the sample strongly or somewhat agrees that affirmative action levels the playing field, while 65% of the sample strongly or somewhat agrees that affirmative action rewards some groups at the expense of others.

According to an online article in the New York Times, “the selection of Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court promises to open a new battle in the fight over affirmative action and other race-conscious remedies for patterns of  inequality.”  Some conservatives believe that her strong identification with race-based approaches to the law disqualifies her from the position.

What are your views on affirmative action? Do you think that affirmative action does more harm than good? Do you think it should face a time limit, given that much of its justification has concerned the righting of past wrongs? Do you believe that a racially mixed campus/workplace benefits society overall?

Grace Uncategorized, politics, race race, war, work, zogby

If confirmed, President Barack Obama’s nominee Sonia Sotomayor would be the third woman and the first Hispanic to sit on the Supreme Court. With confirmation hearings expected to begin next month, she faces questions about her stance on issues from abortion to affirmative action – and some have raised concerns if she will unfairly favor certain groups due to her background.

A recent Zogby Interactive poll finds most likely voters (54%) say gender and ethnic balance on the Supreme Court is of little or no importance, while 44% believe these factors should be given significant consideration when confirming a nominee. Those who believe most strongly that gender and ethnic balance on the Court is not at all important include Republicans (73%), McCain voters (74%), and conservatives (80%). Self-described liberals (50%), Democrats (41%), and Obama voters (36%) were among the most likely to view a gender and ethnically balanced court as very important.
It’s not surprising that women (26%) are more likely than men (15%) to believe this kind of balance on the Court is very important. More than half of men (52%) view gender and ethnic balance on the Supreme Court as not important at all, compared with 34% of women.

Is a more diverse Supreme Court a better Supreme Court, or should legal background and positions on issues be the primary criteria for selecting nominees? If Sotomayor is confirmed, do you think her background will influence her judicial decisions?

Katy politics, race Obama, politics, race, zogby

Is the Obama Presidency changing our attitudes about race? A recent poll reported in the New York Times may shows that is happening.

According to the newspaper’s article on the NY Times/CBS News Poll: “Barack Obama’s presidency seems to be altering the public perception of race relations in the United States. Two-thirds of Americans now say race relations are generally good, and the percentage of blacks who say so has doubled since last July, according to the latest New York Times/ CBS News poll.

In Salon, Gary Kamiya writes: “We are a country used to talking endlessly about race but not doing anything about it. Obama is doing exactly the opposite. He is not talking about race, but that very fact, combined with his high popularity, has advanced racial harmony more than any utterance could do…But Obama’s silence about race, and the positive consequences of that silence, could also be the harbingers of a subtle but fundamental movement away from America’s dominant approach to race, one based on the idea that ‘we have to take race into account in order to get beyond it.’ “

However, Obama’s Attorney General and the nation’s first African-American to hold that post, Eric Holder, seemed to take the opposite tack when he said in February that we are “essentially a nation of cowards” when it comes to race relations. He, told Justice Department employees that “this nation has still not come to grips with its racial past” and suggested Black History Month could be used to spark more candid discussion of racial issues. “This will be, at first, a process that is both awkward and painful, but the rewards are, I believe, potentially great,” Mr. Holder said. “The alternative is to allow to continue the polite, restrained mixing that now passes as meaningful interaction but that in reality accomplishes very little.”

How has the Obama Presidency impacted race relations? Do his actions speak louder than words, or should we increase dialogue about race?

Paul culture, elections, politics, race history, Obama, politics, race, war