While I agree with the initial concept for Affirmative Action, I am disgusted by what it has become.
Affirmative Action has certainly come a long way since President Johnson introduced the concept in 1965. At that time it was a necessary (and much needed) way to finally end discrimination against minorities.
The "spirit of the law" was to ensure that blacks had equal rights to employment, advancement, scholarships, education and every other aspect of American life that had long been considered a 'right' by whites and denied to blacks. Affirmative Action was to not only guarantee equality but try to give blacks a little ‘head start’ into the “white world.”
However, the spirit of Affirmative Action has long since died, its usefulness is gone and it has slowly turned into what it is today - reverse discrimination.
For example, AA policies initially ordered universities to make room for and accept black students. If there were two equal applicants for one available seat, one white and one black, the seat was to be given to the black student to promote diversity and give the black student a 'break' to make up for the years of repression under segregation and the Jim Crow laws.
The hearts behind the concept were good however the AA policies themselves were discriminatory.
Instead of guaranteeing an equal opportunity for properly qualified black students, the policies ended up denying admittance to better qualified white students by requiring the admittance of lesser qualified minority students to fill a quota. Instead of accepting an 'A' white student the university would give the seat to a 'B' black student just to be able to say that they had a black student.
The same held true and still holds true in many areas of the country for employment, scholarships, housing, loans and many other aspects of life.
Affirmative Action, in addition to victimizing whites, also has other unintended victims - the minorities themselves. Every black student that walks the halls of every university knows that there are whites around him that think 'is he here because he earned it or because he's black?'
Instead of being recognized for their accomplishments they're once again labeled as inferior due to their skin color, surviving only on the handouts of the white world, making it through life only because of Affirmative Action.
Affirmative Action, for many minorities, has taken away the ability for them to walk with their heads held high knowing not only that they earned their position but that those around them know it as well. Affirmative action has replaced that with even more adversity to overcome.
Not only do they have to work as hard as or harder than their white counterparts to reach the top but they have to work even harder to prove they earned the right to be at the top instead of being 'AA-ed' in.
Another side effect is that those organizations that use Affirmative Action can actually decrease the professionalism and effectiveness of their organization. In some instances Affirmative Action could ultimately result in lost lives.
For an example, let’s look at the Madison Fire Department. The Madison Fire Department, being a governmental body, is required to have 10 of its 100 employees be a minority of some sort. A minority employee has just retired so the department must now look to its applicant base to find a replacement.
Of the 100 applications the department has on file the top 20 are white - these are the folks that scored the highest on the application tests for knowledge and skills. Instead of taking any one of the 20, the department takes number 21 – the highest qualifying minority.
Who would you rather have coming to your house as it burns - number 1 or number 21? Whose hands would you feel most comfortable putting your life into: the person that scored number one in skills and knowledge or number 21?
Affirmative Action was necessary 40 years ago to give the black community a 'jump start' into the newly available white world. It was discriminatory then but most people agreed that it was right and it was just; the blacks needed to catch-up to the socio-economic level of their white counterparts.
America today is no longer like the America of the post-segregation era. America today offers the same opportunities to both majorities and minorities. Discrimination, no matter what some may say, is gone…except for discrimination under Affirmative Action. |