Bulletin debates Affirmative Action CONS (part 2 of 4)

At the heart of things, affirmative action programs are extremely well-intentioned. They seek to right the wrongs committed throughout history against minority groups. The hope is to spark the social and economic advancement of these minorities by requiring employers to hire a diverse group of employees or educational institutions to admit a diverse group of students. You could not ask for a more noble cause. The question at hand is whether or not this noble cause is effective, although proponents of the measure might argue that it is a form of retroactive justice. The fact is, affirmative action forces people to make decisions based on race. Affirmative action is a program built on racial discrimination, all the while claiming to fight it. It is very true that racism is a problem deserving of a solution. But, whatever the state of the fight for equality in this country, the U.S. has made vast progress in the fight for freedom in the past 50 years, and affirmative action hinders that progress. There are several problems with affirmative action programs. One is that members of other groups are unjustly punished or discriminated against in order to achieve the advancement of others. In the recent example at the University of Michigan Law School, a woman was denied admission, based on the fact that she was white, even though she was more qualified than other minority students who were admitted. So, in order to compensate for the discrimination of one group in the past, we are discriminating against another group now. This borders dangerously on the creation of a vicious cycle. Another problem, also illustrated by the example mentioned above, is that affirmative action programs can result in under- or less-qualified applicants being awarded positions over those who are more skilled or prepared. Some will try to tell you that this is not true, since often race does not come into play until a pool of qualified candidates has been identified. However, it does not matter at which stage affirmative action is introduced. Whenever the color of someone's skin is regarded as a factor in their being hired or admitted, then other factors, such as skill and experience, are overshadowed. That just does not make sense for the company, school or applicant. The point of an application process is to select the best people for the position. Race should not have any influence in that decision. Many would say that the reason minority applicants are less qualified is because they have not been afforded the same opportunities generally enjoyed by white males. And they are right. Traditionally, and today still, minority groups do not have equal access to educational and econimic resources. But you do not teach a child to swim by throwing him in the deep end and hoping he floats. Niether is it wise to attempt to correct the problem of racial discrimination by placing minority members in positions for which they are unprepared and where they are more likely to fail. It would be more prudent to go to the source of the problem. Most importantly, work on correcting inequality in the nation's educational system. Yes, this is a process that will take a very long time. But no one ever said that solving racial discrimination was going to happen overnight. Finally, as stated in Newsweek by Armstrong Williams, a black syndicated columnist, "There is ... a very real danger that we are merely reinforcing the idea that minorities are first and foremost victims. Because of this victim status, the logic goes, they are owed special treatment. But that isn't progress, it's inertia." By putting minorities into the role of vicitms, we are not helping them to advance, we are holding them in place. The goals and governing philosophy of affirmative action supporters are understandable. They do not wish to characterize minorities as victims. They do not wish to put members of minority groups in positions where they are unlikely to succeed. And they are not out to achieve ultimate reverse discrimination against whites. But in effect, all of this does happen to some degree or another when race is a determining factor on a person's resume.

4 comments

Anonymous

Thu Mar 4 2010 11:07

what is chris's telephone number (;

aaron II

Sat Jan 9 2010 11:51

i agree

aaron A

Fri Dec 4 2009 11:02

i l0ve Chris s

aaron

Fri Dec 4 2009 11:01

Chris is gay

Add comment


I am not posting spam. I understand posting spam or other comments that are unrelated to this article will cause my comment to be flagged for deletion and possibly cause my IP address to be permanently banned from this server.

Enter the characters in the image above:

log out