Myth 4: Equal opportunity is enough to ensure racial equality

Following the previous post on affirmative actions, an anonymous friend of mine expanded on the Myth 4 to highlight two prominent issues - Equal opportunity and Racial Equality.

He says,

"Quota/reservation introduction is only a political move. As such anything that any political party does is political as it is aimed at winning votes/seats. Few political initiatives are stark, whilst others are not.

As such I would like to ponder on Myth 4: Equal opportunity is enough to ensure racial equality.
In this I think there are two myths.
Myth 4.1: Equal opportunity can be achieved
Myth 4.2: Through equal opportunity racial equality can be achieved.

Mankind has not yet won the battle to disprove myth 4.1 (to achieve equal opportunity). If this battle gets won, can we then win battle to achieve racial equality (4.2) is still conjectural.

I very firmly believe that we can never overcome 4.1. Then the question arises is that to win over 4.2, is 4.1 the best possible way?

I feel that to achieve racial equality, the racial demarcation lines need to be erased. This may even require doing away with the basic tenets of equality for some time. Affirmative action is one such example"

Personally speaking, I see 4.1 as a prerequisite to dispel Myth 4, where Myth 4 in itself is questionable. If the true goal for humanity is to provide “equal opportunity” for all to pursue a life any person wants. Due to historical considerations, this can only be achieved if we achieve racial equality.

To achieve equality and to provide equal opportunity to people from different castes/races, we first need to remove the current deficit/offset that exists between different castes/races. Only then equal opportunity will lead to any form of equality. This “error correction” if possible, will try to undo years of accumulated discrimination, targeting long-term (unknown quantity) benefit of providing a platform for equal opportunity.

Pro-reservation people are supporting heavy reservation for the neglected classes as this error correction in the society. However, there are a few immediate problems with such measures:

1. We need to keep in mind that such a huge adjustment on the division of available resources can lead to substantial fall in quality/quantity of gross domestic productions.
2. We plan to reduce the racial offset by giving more opportunities to those set back in time and reducing opportunities for others
3. While we are correcting our previous errors, our society may just be set back by the time we take to adjust the racial offset. In saying this, I do not mean to undermine talented individuals in the OBC category. However, to be fair, I believe that those who are busy adjusting their offset, will not be able to contribute much to future development.
4. We do not have any planning framework that defines “error correction” as a long-term goal. There is no timeline to mark out a planned/multi-echelon reduction in the racial equality offset.
5. Reservations on their own will not prepare us for the second phase, which is equal opportunity to equal people. We are trying to adjust the racial offset by giving privilege to those affected in the past. However, we are set to further affect an equal number of people. If we do not broaden our primary education base and do not improve its quality, we will never achieve equal opportunity for all.
6. We have not planned to get all sections of the society on board. This only means that in trying to bridge the gap between different sects, we are compromising on the foundation of the same bridge

This brings me back to my initial question.. has the government thought it through.

Affirmative actions

In considering the latest of the series of (political) affirmative actions by the HRD ministry, one has to wonder where is all this leading us. I must say that the depth of the issue baffles me less than the indifference with which the whole issue has been treated by the honorable ministers. Of course, we need to ensure equal opportunity and equality for all in our society. But at the same time, we also need to make sure that the nation’s progress in not affected. I found this very interesting article on affirmative actions, which highlights 7 popular myths about such policy measures:

Myth 1: Affirmative action can involve goals and timetables while avoiding quotas.

Myth 2: Colour-blind policies offer an efficient substitute for colour-sighted affirmative action.

Myth 3: Affirmative action undercuts investment incentives.

Myth 4: Equal opportunity is enough to ensure racial equality.

Myth 5: The earlier in education or career development affirmative action is implemented, the better.

Myth 6: Many non-minority citizens are directly affected by affirmative action.

Myth 7: Affirmative action always helps its beneficiaries.

The crux of the issue perhaps lies in myths 4, 5 and 7.

What does equal opportunity mean... how can we ensure that we provide equal opportunity to all... and then, will it actually lead to equality for all castes and tribes. And above all, what is equality .. is it possible to bind all humans in an agreement proclaiming all fellow humans are equal.

How are we going to ensure that the society is actually making some progress due to these affirmative actions.

Before we embark upon the debate, here and here are two very insightful pro-reservation articles.

Your views invited on the above.