Affirmative Action
Affirmative Action programs began in the 1950's, when, amazingly, America discovered that it was treating both
minorities and women badly, and that there was no equality, whether "separate but equal" or not. It didn't matter whether it was in the south, where segregation was
legalized, or the north, where segregation was practiced. Over 50 years later, it's time to review just how affirmative action has worked in America.
I need to preface this by saying that I support affirmative action because I feel it's still needed. There's still great disparity in jobs, money, and education in this
country. There are many kids who get good grades in bad schools who wouldn't have their opportunity to go to college if there wasn't affirmative action. There are many
talented minorities who would never be hired because the power structure at many companies still wants to only hire someone who looks like them. And women, as talented
as anyone else in almost every single profession (there will never be one in the NFL, and I'll take money on that one), still only make, 72% of what men make for
doing the same job nationally.
So, has affirmative action worked? Truthfully, I'd have to say no, it hasn't worked. Its implementation was a nice idea, but wasn't handled properly. Most people still
don't understand what it is, or how it's supposed to work. Human resource directions don't have any idea how to make it work in their companies for the most part;
colleges are still struggling with how to make it fair. Government, sports, etc; no one has a clue, and there's no place for them to go to get information that they can
understand.
Not only that, but it's created a backlash against people who didn't deserve it. Men hate when a woman has to enter their ranks; the same goes for when minorities are
finally added. People automatically assume that minorities aren't really qualified for positions they're being given, and in the 60's through 90's, it was probably true.
It was easy for companies to hire minorities for jobs they weren't qualified for, then fire them because they didn't do a good job, yet they could report to the
government that they'd done "their best". Colleges set up what ended up being quota systems, which I personally had no problem with, but lawsuits abounded when white
students, whose college test scores were higher, complained because minorities were chosen ahead of them. In both situations, colleges and businesses, they accepted
minorities grudgingly, then didn't set up a support system for them to succeed; kind of life inviting that uncle you don't really like to the family reunion because
he's family, then having no one talk to him while he's there.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is a perfect example of what affirmative action has done to some
minorities (major political statement coming here). Born into a poor black family in the south, raised with discrimination and segregation, he was able to
achieve just enough to earn his way into Harvard through its affirmative action policy, where he was ostracized and hated by people who felt he didn't belong there.
And, because of that, it seems like he's spent the last 15 years trying to find ways to get back at both black people and affirmative action for what it did "to" him
rather than "for" him. It's bad enough that the white majority hates affirmative action, but when minorities start hating it then maybe there's a problem (off that
soapbox now).
Still, it the hate of some people enough to say that affirmative action should end? I'd have to say no, for many reasons, adding to what I already wrote above. This
country is changing, and some have predicted that by 2100 it might not be majority white anymore. If
that's the case, then this country has two options. Those are that it'll end up being forced into a punitive state of government like South Africa used to be, or it
decides that it wants to survive, gets its act together, and figures out a better way to make sure affirmative action not only works, but is as far as it can be to
everyone involved so that, no matter who's running things, we can all feel safe that our leaders are at least qualified to be there.
Affirmative Action is still needed in America, though it needs to be revamped, then implemented, then monitored and tweaked. The government needs to contract
with an independent agency to take it over, so that it doesn't bend to the whims of whichever political party is in place at the time. America needs to come together,
to make sure that everyone has a fair chance to get a better education, a better job and career, and live as they wish to in peace, knowing that they earned it.
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