TBy Marty Andrade he power of any philosophy is how well all its principles work holistically. In this regard, questions arise as to the legitimacy of the liberal philosophy. How well do all the values inherent in liberal issues work together? Well, let’s take a look how the liberal idea of affirmative action works with some of their other ideas.

According to liberals, abortion is a cherished right. So why doesn’t your average liberal promote affirmative action in abortion rights? Considering the many years of white oppression, black women should be the first in line to take advantage of the right to terminate a pregnancy, right? Or what about euthanasia? For a period of time equal to the enslavement of the black race in the United States, the only people who should have the option to euthanize themselves should be blacks. Aren’t these examples of taking two liberal ideas and putting them to good use in a consistent and logical manner?

How about gun control; handguns should be restricted since you’re more likely to hurt yourself than actually protect yourself, right? Then how about making blacks the first people to be “protected” under affirmative action gun control, denying them the right to carry guns? How about a resounding “NO”?

Affirmative action is just one of the modern travesties of the liberal philosophy. The idea that you should give special credit due to someone’s race is idiotic and socially regressive. If you apply liberal ideas against each other you get a dead political philosophy. In the liberal mind, the value that is put into amending racial injustices of the past is somehow not applicable to situations other than education.

Obviously, when we apply affirmative action to the liberal beliefs on euthanasia, gun control, and abortion, you get an ugly and racist rant. You get the same thing when you apply it to education admittance. It is the liberals who are racist; they say that blacks can’t make it on their own in the education community.

I learned right away at the public school I attended in rural Arkansas that racism is wrong. This fact was mentioned for my benefit, as I was the only Roman Catholic at the school, as well as the only Hispanic. So I don’t want to hear that I am against affirmative action in school admittance because I’m some white Anglo-Saxon male. I’m saying this because I know that consideration of a person’s race in any instance to judge their worth is wrong.

This is why the U.S. Supreme Court has made a grave error in its recent affirmative action decision. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor wrote that affirmative action in admission decisions should remain legal “In order to cultivate a set of leaders with legitimacy in the eyes of the citizenry.” Where does it say in the Constitution that it is the government’s concern that legitimate leaders are properly cultivated? And where was O’Connor when my great-grandfather Antonio was working in the coal mines trying to help my grandpa through college?

The power of the conservative philosophy is found in its consistency. Racial preferences are wrong, in any instance; whether discriminating against a person because of race in admittance to a restaurant or when you’re trying to promote diversity at a school. There is no inherent value in being black or white, Hispanic or Asian. But some people are told otherwise.

When I participated in the affirmative action bake sale held by the Campus Republicans, an exasperated woman cried out “I see myself as a black woman.” I wasn’t sure how to respond to that – you see, I saw her as a human being. Is that so wrong?

Marty Andrade is a psychology student and the president of Students for Family Values, and welcomes comments at [email protected]