Reverse Racism: A Continual Debate

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Patricia Steffes worked at Pepsi Company for over twenty years. During one of her later years at the company, she was up for a promotion. Pepsi did not award her the job though. Instead they hired a man who happened to be an African-American. Steffes was outraged over this incident claiming that because of Pepsi’s ‘aggressive minority promotion program’ Pepsi hired a less-qualified minority candidate in order to comply with this program. Steffes wrote to the Equal Opportunities Commission as well as the senior executive at Pepsi to file a complaint over the discrimination against her. What Steffes failed to recognize was the reason Pepsi had this program in this first place. The whites, like Patricia Steffes, that are claiming they are now being discriminated against call it reverse racism. The notion of reverse racism has many different points of view and many different opinions from minorities and whites alike. However, because of many individuals’ inherent perceptions, minorities’ lack of true power, and individuals’ failure to comply with the law, to claim that reverse racism exists in the United States today is unfounded. In 1865 Congress ratified the Thirteenth Amendment, which formally abolished slavery in the United States of America. This was a necessary step in order for the United States to move forward toward the age of progressivism. However, while the thirteenth amendment banned slavery it did not ban segregation and discrimination toward minority groups, specifically African-Americans. It was not until the Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, which overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling of separate but equal, that the government specifically addressed segregation. As a result of the ruling in Brown... ... middle of paper ... ...s Quick Facts."ThisNation.com--The U.S. Congress Quick Facts. This Nation, 16 May 2014. Web. 16 May 2014. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Black or African American Populations." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 10 Feb. 2014. Web. 14 May 2014. NCSL. "Affirmative Action | Overview." Affirmative Action | Overview. National Conference of State Legislators, 2014. Web. 14 May 2014. N.A. "A Brief History of Affirmative Action." A Brief History of Affirmative Action. The Regents of the University of California, 2002. Web. 16 May 2014. Brunner, Borgna, and Beth Rowen. "Affirmative Action History." Infoplease. Infoplease, 2014. Web. 16 May 2014. Barness, Sarah. "Comedian, Aamer Rahman, Nails Why 'Reverse Racism' Doesn't Work (VIDEO)." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 03 Dec. 2013. Web. 16 May 2014.

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