Kant and Affirmative Action

It's really hard to figure out what Kant would say about affirmative action and there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of debate about that (at least in the internet realm, but that's where most of us millennial-aged students look for ideas - let's be honest)

In a New York Times article, one Professor who teaches Kant at his university wrote his thoughts on why Kant might be against affirmative action in response to the effect of Proposal 2 on the University of Michigan. To Recap the event of Prop 2 for UM students, recall that:

- Proposal 2 was a state ballot banning Affirmative Actions that give preferences to any persons and groups based on race, gender, ethnicity, or nationality

- When is was successful, President Mary Sue Coleman was not happy

- University of Michigan Lawyers tried to appeal, asking to wait until admissions for that year ended

- The Federal Court declined the request, forcing UM to change its policy immediately

He explains that, although Kant might put an emphasis on freedom and equality when it comes            to political thought - Affirmative Action formulated with the intent on making up for the                    disparities of past injustices would be morally incorrect. 

“It is because Kant insists on distinguishing what works (at least in the short run) and what is right that he would, I believe, be against affirmative action. He would have said, as many opponents of affirmative action do say, that it is wrong to respond to past acts of discrimination by discriminating in the present, even if your intentions are good. If discrimination – the unequal treatment of inherently free and equal citizens – is to be condemned when the motives behind it (to preserve power or maintain a way of life) are suspect, it is also to be condemned when the motives behind it (to redress an historical injustice or have the student body reflect the diversity of America) are benign. Otherwise the calculation of happiness (at least by someone’s lights) will have taken precedence over the upholding of principle.”

I think this thought is very interesting. It should be noted that the author struggles struggles between his desire for justice - he wants Affirmative Action to happen. But he's torn between what he feels is right and what he thinks, based on Kantian first principles, is right.

We know that Affirmative Action can take different forms. Most Affirmative Action advocates push for it based on the same reasons as above. Perhaps if an Affirmative Action policy was proposed based on a different intention, it would pass this moral problem of using it to redress past discriminations.


source: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/01/14/how-kant-might-view-affirmative-action