It is important to try to evaluate what it is about affirmative action and welfare that generates this public backlash. If there was a general consensus among the people of America that affirmative action was simply unfair for moral reasons, I would feel compelled to seriously reconsider my policy position. But if the fight against affirmative action is simply the latest manifestation of America's traditional project to exclude women and minorities from the economic, social and political mainstream, then I would be far less concerned with all the noise. And if many of those criticizing affirmative action were the same people who opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, then I would be likely to view their concerns with great suspicion. Interestingly, all of these things seem to be the case.
Minorities do in fact tend to support affirmative action more than whites.
Ronald Reagan, George Bush and Phil Gramm were all opposed to the Civil Rights Act. And there seem to be an eerie parallel between the arguments of the opponents of the Civil Rights Act and those of the modern-day critics of affirmative action. What concerns me most about the recent political debate surrounding affirmative action is that opposition to the policy seems to be a simple smokescreen for racism and sexism. I have much sympathy with these arguments we should be concerned about these drawbacks to affirmative action. But if we are candid, all of history has been profoundly unfair to those who are currently beneficiaries of affirmative action.