Affirmative Action

Washington -- Since it has become disturbingly obvious that some Americans want to fight another Civil War over ''affirmative action,'' I must have a few more words about the subject.My mail about ''reverse discrimination'' tells me that I must make one more attempt, however futile, to tell white America what is ugly paranoia, and what is fact about the recent efforts of political leaders and corporation leaders to do justice.It seems that I get a zillion letters a month from whites saying generally: ''Through 'reverse discrimination,' our government, colleges and businesses have given so many goodies to blacks and Hispanics, that a white man, or family, doesn't have a chance anymore.

WASHINGTON - Race matters. Boil it down, and that's what the milestone Supreme Court rulings in the University of Michigan case reduce to, an acknowledgement of the obvious. Not that the rulings were one-sided. As you surely know by now, justices struck down a formula that awarded a certain number of points toward undergraduate admission to applicants based upon race. But at the same time, and to the relief of affirmative action advocates, the court affirmed that race can be taken into account in college admissions.

WASHINGTON -- The Democratic Party is being tied into knots by the affirmative action issue.At the most basic level, the party's dilemma is clear-cut. On the one hand, the Democrats must recognize there is a deep-seated resentment of affirmative action among many white voters who consider it "reverse discrimination" that denies them jobs and promotions. On the other, the Democrats cannot alienate its most loyal constituency, black voters.The potential for defections among black voters is obvious.

The incoming Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the very conservative Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, wasted no time in firing a warning shot across the bow of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. He said shortly after Election Day that the administration was "reversing long held positions" in a way that "looks almost unethical."He seems most upset about Assistant Attorney General Deval Patrick's announcement that the department has reversed its stand in an affirmative action case.

THESE ARE the most frequently asked questions about affirmative action as it relates to college admission. The answers may be surprising. What's affirmative action? Supporters of affirmative action view it as a process intended to increase the representation of minorities in college and to end institutional discrimination. The opposition to affirmative action defines it as a process of minority preference, which violates the ideals of meritocracy and constitutional notions of "equal protection."

HOW DO you phrase the importance of affirmative action for a young woman, for somebody who comes in the room and half the chairs are already filled with women?"

WASHINGTON -- In a sweeping review of the government's affirmative action programs, Clinton administration officials have concluded that most hiring and other preferences based on race or sex are justified in employment and education.But they found problems with some purchasing programs that reserve federal contracts for companies owned by blacks or women.A confidential report prepared for the president by administration officials catalogs numerous forms of affirmative action and analyzes the reasons for "white male resentment" of those practices.