Almost a month has passed since Barack Obama was elected president of the United States. The sight of the band’s procession, red, white and blue Obama signs and an integrated, multiracial crowd chanting in unity on the Diag will not soon be forgotten. But November also summons another recent historical moment that contrasts sharply with the festivities a month ago: the passage of Proposal 2, the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative.

Passed in 2006, and implemented in 2007, the ballot initiative banned affirmative action in the state of Michigan. It had a significant effect on the University’s admission’s policies. One black LSA student described the campus atmosphere on Nov. 8, 2006, as “filled with anger and disbelief, especially in the black community. Amongst my white peers it was drastically different. It was kind of like ‘that sucks now lets move on.’ ”

This student asked for anonymity because he did not want to draw attention to himself when he applies for jobs in the upcoming winter semester. But his feeling — the fear that talking about Proposal 2 and affirmative action will result in having your opinion discounted as passive victimization or garner a reputation for being a race relations malcontent — is prevalent on campus.

“In the Business School it is such a sensitive topic,” said a black student who asked for anonymity so he wouldn’t be labeled a “crying victim.” “I came to Ann Arbor with the perception that this was a progressive community and I see the same racial fractures here in the form of self-segregation as I’ve seen in Chicago or Washington, D.C.”

Despite all the emotions initially surrounding the passage of the proposal, the conversation about affirmative action at the University has largely fallen silent. More than two years later, tough questions on race persist.

What are the barriers for discussing affirmative action? What are student perspectives on affirmative action? What progress was made since affirmative action’s inception? What have been the experiences of students on a post-affirmative action campus?

People of all colors and backgrounds are impacted by affirmative action. But in order to fully account for the historical origination of affirmative action and limit the scope of this article, we focus on the dynamic between African Americans and whites, and affirmative action as it relates to higher education.

BARRIERS TO CONVERSATION

The actual definition of affirmative action is a contested one. For some, it negatively connotes the rhetoric of “entitlement,” “redistribution” or — as it was described in a 2008 Indianapolis Star article, “Equality Beyond Oval Office” — “a particularly hard preference of one aspirant over another” or in contrast as “government, colleges and industries considering an applicant’s race as one factor among many.”

One white LSA freshman, who preferred to be anonymous so as not to draw attention to himself, said he is not comfortable talking about affirmative action in public, but definitely doesn’t agree with it.
"If affirmative action really worked, (race and gender) wouldn't still be a problem," he said.

As the term “affirmative action” sometimes functions as a proxy for “race,” it can be a hard topic to tackle given our respective histories and personal investment.

"Interracial conversations on race are usually had on this superficial level where whites acknowledge the history of black subjugation and oppression and it's legacy but only want to offer lip service,” said University graduate student Ciera Burnett, who is black. “Any policy or initiative that remedies this will involve some form of redistribution, whether in taxes or preference. But no one wants to talk about this."

Making progress in this conversation must also be an exercise in how much information we’ve retained this campaign season about the “racial stalemate” President-Elect Obama mentioned in his famous speech on race, “A More Perfect Union.” Obama’s speech on race offers that it’s also important to not dismiss “legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism.”

It’s tempting to frame the debate as a “litmus test for one’s human decency” in the words of T. Alexander Smith and Lenhan O’Connell’s 1997 text “Black Anxiety, White Guilt and The Politics of Status Frustration.” But to do this would ignore the findings of a 2004 study conducted by Dr. William G. Bowen, former president of Princeton, that found 19 of America’s elite colleges and universities did not give additional consideration to low-income students when considering applicants, thus not accounting for poor whites.

The affirmative action in higher education debate straddles two lofty concepts: racial justice in America and the creation of the ideal educational environment.