YETMO

”Florida Has 'One' Proposal"

The more we talk about racial harmony and equality the less likely we'll get it.

Like Bill Clinton, I've always believed in talking things through. Anything can be resolved by discourse and dialogue. People just need to communicate openly, listen intently, and care deeply.

But Governor Jeb Bush's One Florida Initiative is being talked up and down so much lately that its hope of uniting us is fading fast.

A group of African-American leaders organized a protest march against the governor's proposal at the Jacksonville Jaguars Monday night football game. Who can be against one Florida? No one. It's like apple pie. Who wants two, or ten, or twenty Floridas to represent whatever ethnic or racial interests exist in the community?

It's funny, too. Radio reports announced the march of protest but never included even one word of why. What was being protested? What was the nature of the concern with the governor's idea? I even called the newspaper and no one knew the reason there either. I was transferred to a reporter who may have known, but I didn't leave a voice mail. [Take note. Reporters don't return calls unless it for their articles, not yours.]

As usual, people are against anything that seems to interfere with any real, or perceived, current or future benefits for themselves. Do these African-American leaders feel that awarding college entrance to students in the top 20 percent of their class will exclude certain other deserving blacks from educational opportunities?

I presume their concern is that the proposal is discriminatory. That's a fairly safe guess nowadays. I doubt their protest is based on fiscal concerns and that only the top 15 percent should go to school. We don't need to summarize the concerns of critics of affirmative action or quotas. Those positions have been well-publicized.

So there we have it. A Maginot Line has been drawn. On the surface, Bush's plan seems to be the most logical and fair way to deal with constituent concerns about racial fairness and preferences.

It seems that if one side proposes a solution, it's summarily rejected by the other. Everyone knows that all Republicans hate non-whites, poor people, and want to kill all elderly people by not giving them adequate health care. Clearly a Republican's idea can't work.

Bush probably thought he, or his staff, had a winner here - a King Solomon-like solution to a very touchy issue.

Most individuals on both sides will probably accept the principle of merit when applied to someone exploiting opportunities for themselves and their families. Yet, determining how merit is defined must be the hard nut to crack in this dialogue.

Under the One Florida Initiative, any student in the top one-fifth of his class gets a ticket to a Florida state university. It would seem like a wonderful way to honor hard-working, achieving students in low-achieving high schools across the state. Many of these kids might not stack up well against their counterparts from more affluent, high-achieving schools. As a result, they could miss the opportunity to go to college and make a better life.

So what's the problem with Bush's initiative?

Is it that some deserving minority kid from an affluent school just falls short of the magic top 20 percent? I fear that both sides are so interested in furthering their 'own kind' that their motives are transparent.

One Florida is an excellent starting point. It provides protection to all successful students in all schools, including poor-achieving ones. Thus, One Florida guarantees a certain degree of diversity in race, income (class), and educational backgrounds in the state university system. Any child is assured of college entrance if she excels within her own local educational environment.

Unfortunately, we know certain deserving kids won't gain college acceptance under this plan any more than they would have under past affirmative action guidelines.

As people continue to discuss this - and they will - they should first agree on an objective standard or goal? Should that goal be based on race or income, or should it be based on educational achievement?

The answer seems obvious. Look to the purpose of universities and answer the following: Do colleges exist to educate and train people to function in a diverse world or do they exist to educate and train diverse people?

With One Florida, colleges would do both: educate and train diverse people to function in a diverse world.