The recently established (as in about five minutes ago) DISCRIMINATIONS prizes for best non sequitur and most euphemistic jargon have both been won by one striking press release from the University of California at Davis.
The non sequitur is the very first paragraph:
Colleges and universities, long considered major building blocks of social opportunity in the United States, have significantly decreased race-based affirmative action in the past dozen years, according to a UC Davis sociology study.
Who is it exactly who considers colleges and universities “major building blocks of social opportunity”? Aside from the fact that equal opportunity, not social opportunity, is usually regarded as the promise of America, my impression is that colleges and universities are, and should be, regarded primarily as building blocks of knowledge.
But that is a mere quibble compared to the real howler, which is the easy assumption that “social opportunity” (whatever it is) requires racial preferences, and that reducing the latter is in some conflict with promoting the former.
Now for the prize-winning euphemistic jargon:
Affirmative action policies give preference to a historically disadvantaged class of students over otherwise more advantaged students based on attributes other than demonstrated merit.
“A” class? Hardly. The groups singled out preferential treatment actually varies quite a bit. (Quick: Does the University of Michigan give preferences to Puerto Ricans? Only Puerto Ricans who don’t live in Puerto Rico? Only Puerto Ricans who were, or were not, born in Puerto Rico?)
Exactly what is the “advantage” of those “otherwise more advantaged students”? If their “advantage” consists entirely — as it, in fact does — of the fact that they are not members of a “class” that is considered “historically disadvantaged,” then this description is purely circular. At least whoever wrote it seems appealingly squeemish about providing an accurate definition of affirmative action, which is impossible without mentioning preferences based on race.
But John it is a sociology study. Thus meaning is optional.
The most prestigious universities are still more likely to claim preferences for minority students than are higher education institutions with lower test scores and fees.
What a profound statement. Translation: universities that admit everyone don
Or as Finley Peter Dunne observed:
“D’ye think th’ colledges has much to do with th’ progress iv of the wurruld?” asked Mr Hennessy.
“D’ye think,” said Mr Dooley, “tis th’ mill that makes th’ water run?”