Notes & Comments: January 2001.

Michigan's thin line

Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.

-- George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four

We have often had occasion to dilate on the Orwellian nature of the phrase "affirmative action" in this space. We are going to do so again. Memories are short; ideological pressure is unremitting; in short, some things cannot be repeated too often. Rhetorically, as we all know, "affirmative action" is redolent of high principle and the struggle for equality. One can almost hear strains of the Marseillaise echoing behind its syllables--or maybe that sound is only the thump of a judge's gavel ordering some new social experiment. In any event, "affirmative action" suggests, ... well, something good: something positive, something affirmative. (Also, of course, something pragmatic: we're talking about action here, not theorizing: results, not starry-eyed speculation.) And the opponents of affirmative action, what do they want? Something beginning with "N" at any rate: something involving the word "no," something negative, and no doubt impractical to boot.

In actuality, of course, affirmative action is first and foremost a powerful engine for perpetuating preferential treatment and discrimination based on race, sex, ethnic origin, or some other approved badge of victim status. It is not about assuring equality of opportunity but artificially--that is, judicially--enforcing equality of outcome.

It sounds quite different when put like that, doesn't it? But liberals never do put it like that. They love the phrase "affirmative action" precisely because it allows them to avoid acknowledging--perhaps even recognizing--the unpleasant actuality at the heart of affirmative action. This is one reason that connoisseurs of Orwellian obfuscation cannot admire the phrase "affirmative action" too greatly. It is a gift that just keeps on giving. It is vague enough to cover nearly any contingency, pompous enough always to garner partisan support. Talk of "affirmative action" automatically catapults one onto the moral high ground, at least rhetorically, even if it allows one to pursue inequitable programs of social engineering and racial or sexual redress. (Some liberals acknowledge the inequity involved in enforcing the diktats of affirmative-action programs; those who do will generally point out--usually sotto voce and with a rueful smile--that one cannot make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.)

Perhaps the greatest boon conferred by embracing affirmative action is an insensibility to contradiction. It nudges one blissfully over the "hard place" one faces when simultaneously affirming X and not-X. It is an invitation to what Orwell called Doublethink. College admissions are a laboratory case. We all know about the many colleges whose applications begin by declaring that admission will be granted without consideration of race, sex, creed, or national origin--and then go on a few pages later to inform applicants that it is to their advantage if they are black, Hispanic, American Indian, etc., etc. (We have been told, but have not verified, that at least one distinguished university even has a category for "current gender.") "Check here" they say, "and we'll see what we can do for you."