Affirmative Action

Affirmative action is the perfect fuel for a heated debate among Americans in society today. It is rapidly becoming the most prominent target as many of the gains won by the Civil Rights Movement of 1960's are now in danger of being overturned. In the controversial realms of affirmative action, the largest issue fought over is whether minorities should be given preferential treatment in the workplace and in schools. In recent years, affirmative action has been debated more intensely than at any other time in its 35- year history. Many supporters view affirmative action as a milestone, many opponents see it as a millstone, and many others regard it as both or neither, as a necessary but imperfect, remedy for an intractable social disease. Many people who are opponents of affirmative action might disagree but I believe affirmative action is a positive political stance for the advancement of black people in America.
Affirmative action measures were established to fight racial discrimination. It is a policy to encourage equal opportunity and to level the playing field for groups as well as address and redress systematic, economic, and political discrimination against any group of people that are underrepresented or have a history of being discriminated against. According to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, affirmative action "is considered essential to assuring that jobs are genuinely and equally accessible to qualified persons without regard to their sex, racial, or ethnic characteristic (Stein 15)." The roots of affirmative action lie in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which made discrimination illegal and established equal employment opportunity for all America regardless of race, cultural background, color, or religion. At first affirmative action aimed to eliminate racial imbalance in hiring policies. Later the goals were extended to include college

admissions and awarding of government contracts. Subsequent provisions extended protections to all people of color, women, and older people, and people with disabilities. Affirmative action goes farther by reassuring employers to take "affirmative" step to achieve a balanced representation of workers.
Affirmative action is practiced in many areas of our society, in addition to leveling the playing field for people of color. Many declare, such as myself, that those in the minority group need and deserve aid so that they will be on equal footing with the majority group. One area affirmative action addresses is preferential hiring programs. Many times people of color have been excluded from hiring pools, overtly discriminated against, and unfairly eliminated because of inappropriate qualification standards or have been rendered unqualified because of discrimination in education. Sometimes it is argued that affirmative action means that the best qualified person will not be hired. However, it has been demonstrated many times in hiring and academic recruitment that test and educational qualifications are not necessarily the best predictors of future success. This does not mean unqualified people should be hired. It means qualified people who may not have the highest test scores or grades, but who are ready to do the job may be hired. Employers have traditionally hired people not only on test scores, but on personal appearance, demonstrating that talent or closer ability can be defined many ways. As people emphasize the need for a color blind society, the reality is that color blind policies often put racial minorities at the disadvantage. For instance "color blind seniority systems tend to protect White workers against job layoffs because senior employees are usually


white (Ezorsky 9)." Likewise color blind college admissions seem to favor white students because of their earlier educational advantages.
It is also believed that schools work on a quota to get a fair amount people of color. Affirmative action plans do not impose quotas; they simply seek to increase the pool of qualified applicants by using aggressive recruitment and outreach programs, setting goals, and timetables and establishing training programs among other measures. Students are frequently admitted on basis of many preferences such as personal connections, financial contributions, geographical diversity or athletic skill. According to one source, "far more whites have entered the gates of ten most elite institutions through ‘alumni preference' than the combined numbered of all the Blacks and Chicanos entering through affirmative action (Murell et al 78)." Further more, children of alumni admitted to Harvard had SAT scores that averaged 35 points lower than other Harvard students (Murell et al 79). In fact the without affirmative action the percentage of black students at many selective schools would drop to only 2% of the student body (Bowen et al 5)."This would effectively choke off Black access to top universities and severely restrict progress toward racial equality.
On the contrary opponents of affirmative action feel that it is an ineffective political stance that inhibits the move toward racial equality in America. One argument against affirmative action is that setting apart groups based on their race or ethnicity is purely racism. It is said that affirmative action increases the chance that a minority student will fail where standards are higher, instead of succeeding where the standards are at the level that matches the student's academic capabilities. Opponents of affirmative

action say they want to protect the rights of the individuals and that race and gender are irrelevant. However, they ignore the fact that it has always mattered whether an individual is white or of color, male or female, rich or poor. Opportunities in life have always been conditioned by those factors. I believe everything should be based on merit. There have always been preferences, yet no one ever said they lowered the quality until they began to be applied for the benefit of people of color. There is no evidence that affirmative action has lowered the quality in any situation. Employers tend to sometimes hire people like themselves and to think of them as the most qualified. "Merit" becomes the justification for this because it's somewhat harder to see and trust the qualifications of someone different.
Some critics have argued that affirmative action is a superficial solution that does not address deeper societal problems by redistributing wealth and developing true educational equality (Wilkins 410). Affirmative action is not a solution to creating an unbiased society, some might say but what is? Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream that his children would not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. It is believed that the fundamental lesson of discrimination should have taught us to give anyone preference based on skin color, sex, or religious beliefs, is wrong. More importantly, Roger Wilkins believes that preferential hiring might actually fuel, rather than extinguish, feelings of hospitality (Wilkins 412). Along with that there is no reason to believe that anyone in today's society can not achieve whatever they wish.
Another argument raised against affirmative action is that white people have to pay for past discrimination and may not get the jobs they deserve. It is true that some

white people may not get specific job opportunities because of affirmative action policies and may suffer as a result. It can not be forgotten that a lot of people of color have also lost specific job opportunities as a result of racial discrimination. To be concerned only with white applicants who don't get the job and not with the people of color who don't is racial preference. People are just afraid what they have, meaning power. Anyone who benefit from affirmative action programs are now depicted as undeserving and taking away from what others have. People from the dominant society have a fear of losing control over the economic, political, and cultural direction, particularly to people from unfamiliar cultures.
All in all, affirmative action has become a great issue among Americans. Many believe that affirmative action is reverse discrimination and that we are taking a step backwards as we try to move toward an equal society. In reality we still don't have opportunity in our society. Affirmative action though initially created to redress the consequences of slavery and segregation must also serve to stem the effects of continuing discrimination against people pf color. I believe affirmative action benefits America as a whole. Having a truly demographic and just society demands it because racism, sexism, and all discrimination tear at the fabric of society. The Dean of the University of Washington's Law School summed it up by saying "in an increasing multicultural nation with a global reach, a commitment to diversity- to broadening the boundaries of inclusiveness of American institutions- is economically necessary, morally imperative and constitutionally legitimate (Stein 15)." I have found that affirmative action policies are aiding to provide an equal opportunity to those groups who have been systematically

denied it. Affirmative action is not the source of discrimination but a vehicle for removing the effects of discrimination. Some white men are opposed to giving others the opportunity they have historically enjoyed and seem to complain about reverse discrimination in response to steps that have been taken in that direction. Therefore, affirmative action type programs simply balance out the scales and influence whether personal attributes such as race will be used against minorities. Until the picture changes and minorities are not discriminated against, affirmative action will be vital in any efforts to address poverty and achieve equal opportunity. Moreover, race still matters so we need more affirmative action, not less.

Work Cited

Bowen, W.G., Bok, D. (1998). The Shape of the River: Long- term Consequences of Considering Race in College and University Admissions. Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press p. 5.

Ezorsky, G. (1991). Racism and Justice: The Case for Affirmative Action. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press p. 9.

Murell, A.J., Jones, R. (1996). Assessing Affirmative Action: Past, Present and Future. Journal of Social Issues p. 52, 77-92.

Stein, Nancy. (June 1995). Questions and Answer about Affirmative Action. Crossroads Magazine, No. 52. Oakland California p.15.

Wilkins, R. (May 1995). Racism has its Privileges: The Case for Affirmative Action. The Nation, p. 409-410, 412, 414-416.

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: PAVING A WAY TOWARD AN EQUAL SOCIETY