Some of the changes were unanticipated. A faculty member once took Poussaint aside and asked how he should grade a black student. The professor was at a loss, Poussaint said, he simply had never graded a black student before. Though droll in retrospect, the scene raises the still relevant issue of how to judge merit among a diverse group of people. He said opposition to affirmative action grew with the downturn in the job market in the early '90s, when whites began blaming scapegoats.
Affirmative action is one of the traditional scapegoats.
Poorer whites take out their frustration by hating blacks. He pointed out that a common theme in the assimilation of white immigrants to this country is the disparagement of blacks. He warned that technology is transforming our economy, endangering millions of jobs. There is the danger that people will turn their frustration into racial violence. In the final talk, Alane Shanks, assistant dean for educational administration and finances, presented results of a survey she conducted on minority medical and dental alumni to determine what they are doing now.