IS THE RADICAL CRITIQUE OF MERIT ANTI-SEMITIC

Conventional concepts of merit are under attack by some Critical Legal Scholars, Critical Race Theorists, and radical feminists. These criti cs contend that ''merit'' is only a social construct designed to maint ain the power of dominant groups. This Article challenges the reductio nist view that merit has no meaning except as a tool for those in powe r to perpetuate the existing social order. The authors observe that ce rtain traditionally oppressed groups, most notably Jews and Asian Amer icans, are disproportionately represented in some desirable economic a nd educational positions. They have in that sense ''succeeded'' beyond the supposedly dominant majority The economic and educational accompl ishments of these groups are hard to reconcile with the notion that '' merit'' exists solely to perpetuate the power of the dominant majority (white Gentiles). Because the radical critique of merit denies that t he accomplishments of these minority groups can be explained by genuin e merit it necessarily implies that these groups have obtained an unfa ir proportion of desirable social goods. Therefore, the authors sugges t, the radical critique of merit has the wholly unintended consequence of being anti-Semitic and possibly racist. The Article concludes that the radical critique equates merit with raw power and approaches mora l relativism. The authors call for continued scrutiny and improvement (rather than wholesale repudiation) of current conceptions of merit.