Karen Hanson: Facing Facts and Responsibilities

question 5

Essay

Karen Hanson: Facing Facts and Responsibilities
According to Karen Hanson in "Facing Facts and Responsibilities," a central problem in the debate over affirmative action is the lack of consensus over where the burden of proof should lie. Given the under-representation of women and minorities in academia, is it up to those who oppose affirmative action to demonstrate that current hiring practices work fairly and ensure equal opportunity for all? Or is it the responsibility of affirmative action advocates to identify specific ways in which gender and racial biases infect hiring procedures, even those claiming to be gender and race-blind? Hanson's answer is that we are not entitled to assume hiring practices are unproblematic until proven otherwise because it is unreasonable to think academics are free from the racism and sexism that remains pervasive throughout society. After all, academics live in that society as well and academic training and allegiance to meritocratic ideals have not shown themselves to be any barrier to unjust discrimination in the past. Thus according to Hanson, the burden should lie with opponents of affirmative action.
Hanson also addresses two concerns commonly expressed by opponents of affirmative action: first, that affirmative action ignores social disadvantages suffered by individuals outside historically marginalized groups; and secondly, that affirmative action may create new forms of injustice by unfairly depriving white men of opportunities and stigmatizing women and minorities. Regarding the first worry, Hanson notes that attending to one form of injustice does not entail ignoring or denying that other forms exist. And the mere fact that other forms of injustice exist does not undercut the case for affirmative unless it could somehow be shown that affirmative action policies exacerbate those other injustices. Regarding the second worry, Hanson admits that affirmative action policies are not immune in principle from creating unjust outcomes for individuals outside historically marginalized groups. But Hanson argues that the onus is on critics of affirmative action to show when and how this is the case. Furthermore, Hanson does not take concerns about stigmatization seriously, since it is unclear to her how much preferential hiring procedures could increase the stigmatization already created by decades of sexism and racism, especially in light of the fact that many white men have enjoyed various forms of preferential treatment and suffered no appreciable stigmatization as a result.
-Some object to affirmative action policies on the grounds that individuals outside historically marginalized groups suffer from social disadvantages and forms of injustice as well. How does Hanson respond to this objection? Is Hanson's response convincing? Why or why not?

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Definitions:

Mae Ngai

An American historian known for her work on immigration, citizenship, and nationalism in U.S. history.

Racial Identification

The process of defining oneself or others based on race or ethnicity.

Immigration

The action of coming to live permanently in a foreign country, a phenomenon that has shaped societies and economies globally.

White Privilege

The societal privileges that benefit white people over non-white people in certain societies, particularly if they are otherwise under the same social, political, or economic circumstances.