Customer Reviews

The Hidden Debate: The Truth Revealed about the Battle over Affirmative Action in South Africa and the United States (African Studies)

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The author does an excellent job of reframing the affirmative action debate into one about liberty, equality and justice. He talks about solving social problems with a wholistic approach as opposed to the limited discussions that result when you talk about affirmative action. I appreciated the comparison to how this issue is being approached in South Africa.

The Shell-Core Embedded Conflict Theory as developed by Dr. Khalfani talks of looking at the surface or shell of a problem while ignoring the core of the problem. He has applied this theory to the problems of race and affirmative action in the United States and in South Africa. The problems cannot be resolved until all parties are at least talking the same language. On the one hand there is the ability to go to an integrated school, on the other is a full integration of liberty, equality and justice.

I find that I have two comments on the book and its thesis.

One is that the book reflects South Africa as it is today. The transition to a black controlled government has been remarkably smooth. Yet there are signs that serious trouble may lie ahead. There exists the possibility that a black leader similiar to those in other countries in Africa might gain control of South Africa. This could lead to the expulsion of the whites and the deterioration of the society as it exists today. There is certainly a trend in the black politicians to appeal to the radical element in the black community. This would make a mockery of any attempt at affirmative action.

Dr. Khalfani is a specialist in racial problems. In this book he has applied his theory to racial problems. It would be most interesting to see his theories applied to other problems such as illegal drugs. In the case of drugs we treat the symptoms by trying to prevent supply and ignore the core problem that there is a demand that is being supplied.

The book description gives an excellent summary of the book contents and needs not be repeated here. The author does a terrific job of laying down his theory (the need to dig deep below the surface of things as opposed to the too-common lip service approach) and defining what the goals of affirmative action should be. The comparison of how this is being addressed on separate continents is a great illustration of the theory. The theory should be of use elsewhere where similar situations have received little to no attention. The study is very analytical and well balanced, comparing different approaches and theories, stating pros & cons / strength and weaknesses of each. The whole research is backed up by tons of facts and references.