In a recent Tribune, Prof. David Strauss, speaking against the Supreme Court`s rejection of reverse discrimination, said, ”Any consensus in favor of improving the status of minorities is fragile indeed.” He is probably correct.
But I personally cannot think of a quicker way to destroy this fragile consensus than by discriminating in favor of a minority against the majority. Discrimination always leaves an embittered and disadvantaged group nursing a grudge against society and those who discriminated against them.
Discrimination, even for an ostensibly good cause, is a short-sighted policy. Reverse discrimination may have a legion of articulate defenders like Prof. Strauss, but articulate short-sightedness remains short-sightedness. A color-blind society is an admittedly trickier proposition to administer than a straight quota society, but it is the only kind of society that will preserve social peace in the long term.
