In Friday’s guest column, Hai Duong correctly asserted that the U.S. government divides people into racial groups. Mr. Duong then made a pitch for continued affirmative action because of the discriminatory practices of people who look like me and who lived long ago. Affirmative action is a catalyst for division, and it feeds the concept that America is a racist nation. Prejudice will always exist, but we must not confuse prejudice with oppression.

Affirmative action does not solve any problems. Affirmative action can only punish the descendants of those guilty of past wrongs. If I wanted a reason to hate, I could probably find ancestors of mine who were discriminated against in another time and place by someone known colloquially as the man. (Of course, if I wanted to hate, I wouldn’t need a reason.)

The man is someone who because of greater power or numbers oppresses other peoples. I could find the descendants of the man, and demand reparations from them, but what would be the point? It is not the fault of the descendants of the man, and I am not affected by the oppression imposed upon my ancestors long ago and far away. That is what affirmative action does. It exacts punishment upon the descendants of the man with the ultimate result that the benefactors of affirmative action actually become the man.

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SIUC Alumnus, Murphysboro resident