Affirmative Action

Opponents charge that affirmative action places unskilled minorities in positions they are not qualified for and violates the Fourteenth Amendment. Since its inception, the definition of affirmative action has been ever-changing. Prohibiting discrimination in hiring, expanding the applicant pool to include more minorities, compensating for past grievances, and setting quotas have all been part of the definition. In theory affirmative action helps integrate minorities better into society and puts them on equal footing with whites; however, in reality affirmative action is widening the racial gap in America and therefore should be discontinued. When the Civil Rights Law passed, minorities, especially African-Americans, believed that they should receive retribution for the years of discrimination that they endured.

Affirmative action also makes the assumption that minority groups are, in fact, disadvantaged. Another result is that the tables are turned and whites are discriminated against. Lastly, and most importantly, Affirmative Action can force people to go against their religious beliefs, and in doing so, it breaks the First Amendment to the Constitution. To begin with, Affirmative Action is meant to bring an end to discrimination. In reality, it creates more discrimination in many different ways.

Second, racial preferences are meant to help the disadvantaged. Affirmative action insinuates that people of color are inferior, and therefore cannot compete fairly with the white. Lastly, affirmative action tends to be an insult to ethnic minorities on account that they are selected not for their ability but for their color. In this manner, people of color are not given the impetus to improve themselves, or to show what they can do. Affirmative Action as Discrimination Based on Race Affirmative action is geared towards providing solution to the long standing issu... ... middle of paper ... ...d not by their competence but by their race.

Literature Review: The reason affirmative action is necessary in some parts of in American society is because of the historical significance of racism that embodies American history. As a result, minorities as well as women in the employment industry, and educational system have suffered for not meeting such “requirements”. Often times institutional racism is subtle, unconscious, and rationalize on the basis of nonracial criteria, and does not take the form of overt discrimination like individual racism (McClain, 8 & Crosby, 95). Thus, universities and places of employment may be operating in a manner that is unfair to minorities and women, and may not necessarily be aware of it. In a random sample study of 244 managers, it was found that they characterized female managers more negatively than they did the males, and they assumed that women are unsuited to the rough and tumble world of high-status jobs (Crosby, 101).

The proponents of affirmative action argue that because of past injustices, minorities deserve special privileges. The critics of affirmative action emphasize that minorities should earn their status and not receive special entitlements. In my opinion, affirmative action is a policy that unjustifiably discriminates against the majority, does not advance the cause of minorities in a meaningful way, and needs to be eliminated or in the alternative, experience a massive restructuring. "Affirmative Action: The Price of Preference", maintains that affirmative action has not achieved its goals, and that in some areas, it has even backfired. Steele acknowledges that blacks were wrongly persecuted, but stresses that as a result of affirmative action, "blacks now stand to lose more than they gain."

Affirmative Action: Equality for All? Affirmative action in the United States has become a misused and misguided practice in modern times. In the current form of affirmative action, it is impossible to create a truly equal society. It was originally used as an equal opportunity measure to allow qualified minorities into positions they were denied because of race. However, affirmative action has become a system of racial quotas that lowers standards for minority applicants in order to give them a chance to succeed in universities, jobs, and leadership positions.

They (past professors) told me that affirmative action implies that all minorities are inferior to whites and that minorities need to be treated with special care just to have a chance to become successful. The affirmative action program also undermines their (past professors) achievements of minorities by implying that their positions were handed to them rather than being earned. It seems that they also disagree with... ... middle of paper ... ...reach the ideas set forth by Martin Luther King Jr. King hated for his children to be judged for the color of their skin instead of their character. How would he see affirmative action in 2004? I believe that he would say affirmative action does not solve discrimination problems in the workplace; it just hinders the problems.

2. Whites mistreated blacks on that basis. Affirmative action does not justify preferential treatment based on the first point; it justifies it on the second. That is, supporters do not believe that being black is a morally relevant feature which deserves discriminatory behavior; but... ... middle of paper ... ...angible "victims" who were shut out by the end of job discrimination, then we can also point to tangible "victims" who are shut out of public contracting and funding by the end of voting discrimination. If critics of affirmative action can point to "discrimination" in favor of minorities at hiring time, we can point to "discrimination" in favor of minorities in legislation and public funding.

These arguements are difficult to put into practice because it bring certain difficult issues into light. For example, who is black, who should benefit, who should be burdened. Justification for Affirmative Action is that it is said to be for the greater good of society, this is an utilitarian outllook. The author additionally brings up that Affirmative action takes away a groups self respect because it gives them something they are not entilted to, and that they wont be able to compete successfully with others who have received benefits with out preference. He dismisses both these views, the first by stating that Affirmative Action is just and so if something is just loss of self respect isn't warranted.

Have they been reaping the benefits of affirmation action? As a nation devoted to equality, the United States must do away with unproductive race-dividing policies. By eliminating them, Americans can take major steps in promoting competition and overcoming the color barrier. In his famous march in 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. longed for a society where "people would not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Moreover, skin-color and social status should be irrelevant in hiring employees.