Readers React: Affirmative action should be about ideological diversity, not racial representation

To the editor: Like Martin Luther King Jr., I believe that people should be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin or their ethnicity. If all you know about a person is her race or ethnicity, you know nothing else about that particular person. (“Trump didn’t gut affirmative action, but its future is far from secure,” editorial, July 6)

Therefore, the only diversity that should be important at colleges and universities is intellectual diversity, which is sorely lacking on just about every campus.

It is a shame that we are much more concerned about skin-deep diversity on campuses than the exploration of a diversity of ideas, which is what higher education is supposed to be all about.

Bob Wiegand, Anaheim

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To the editor: At many places of employment, the screening process for applicants culminates in the identification of several “equally qualified” candidates. The dilemma for employers is how to select the “most qualified” applicant from among the finalists.

It is often at this final selection stage that “diversity” considerations are taken into account. So rather than being one criterion among many, diversity is often the deciding factor for employment.

It is in this context that the term “diversity” is a euphemism for “anybody but a straight white American guy.”

Most Americans consider this to be an unreasonable and unacceptable status quo, while diversity advocates are dismayed that the majority is voting for change. This scenario doesn’t bode well for affirmative discrimination.

David Goode, Manhattan Beach

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