America has a history of racial discrimination, three and a half centuries of maltreatment of its racial minorities. America’s history of racial discrimination in both the public and private sectors, from top to bottom. Discrimination either given official government imprimatur or otherwise condoned and permitted. For generations blacks were denied employment opportunities and chances for advancement, or denied admission into institutions of higher education.
After decades of struggles in the courts and streets of this country, after countless deaths of persons demanding that the country live up to the ideals espoused in its most sacred founding documents, the courts of this country determined that, pursuant to law, a remedy was needed to address the long-standing wrongs of racial discrimination. From its English heritage, America jurisprudence mandates that when a wrong has been established, a remedy is appropriate. Often, fashioning the remedy is as difficult a struggle as was establishing the wrong.
What remedy is appropriate for generations of exclusion? Our society has struggled with this question for only a short time. Affirmative action as a remedy, like most remedies, is not perfect, but is fair under the circumstances. Even an imperfect remedy is preferable to no remedy at all. Only a certain few will disagree that racial discrimination needs to be remedied. Some will suggest that discrimination is a thing of the past, and is no longer a problem. However, various examples prove otherwise, including the Texaco "black jellybeans" case. Racial discrimination is still with us, and failing to address it is antithetical to American values, and weakens the fabric of our society.
Whether a remedy is fair always depends on who answers the questions. Some people will call a remedy unfair anytime it could remotely affect them. Others will misunderstand the remedy, and then call it unfair. Among its definitions of "fair", Merriam Webster includes, "conforming with the established rules or consonant with merit or importance." Certainly, attempting to right or correct the wrong of racial discrimination and its remnants conforms to our established rules of jurisprudence and is of great importance to our society as a whole. The alternative is to do nothing, to pretend that racial discrimination does not exist, or is not a problem if it does. Doing nothing about our history of racial discrimination is unfair to America.
18 comments:
I agree it is a solution, if not a perfect one, at least an effort towards some sort of reparation. I have mixed feelings about affirmative action, partially because I see that it actually perpetuates racism amongst some whites. Too bad life has never been fair. Really, it is too bad. I see racism on both sides. I don't know what will ever fix or solve that. It is one of the sins of mankind.
I agree with you. So many people today are getting down on affirmative action, but like you said, an imperfect solution is better than no solution.
What solution will you and the others offer to fix the discimination that affirmative action is causing to others?
Since there is now a problem of a different type, there should be a remedy no?
Discrimination for someone is always discrimination against somoeone else. You can't fix yesterday's mistakes tomorrow.
Your point is not as simple as that, and I think you're missing the point. Affirmative action is not a "fix" as one would ordinarily think about it. The person falling into the goups who you "believe" are being discriminated against have not been deprived of the benefits of citizenship for several generations. As I suggested, the only alternative is to do nothing. Would you like to keep the jellybeans as the bottom of the bag?
I tend to agree with affirmative action, in all it's forms. Many people don't realize that it extends far beyond education, providing things like health care for single mothers.
As for the discrimination aspect of our society, (theories of "the man" keeping us down, and stirring up divisive chaos aside) I believe the solution is linked to our getting to a point in our collective existence that we choose to see how backwards and wrong it really is. The most frustrating aspect of segregation is that a big chunk of it is defacto. People are choosing to separate themselves, while each day opportunities are slowly opening up, and social mobility is becoming more of a tangible possibility.
We have a long road to travel before equal opportunity is a reality. Anything that helps this state be achieved is a step in the right direction.
AP: so you agree that people are being discriminated against?
In a generation (or 2 since this has already been going on for at least that long) will you then feel that the people being discriminated against NOW are entitled to the same fix? Why not?
Not one person has ever been discriminated against for generations, yes groups of people have, but because this group or that group was discriminated against, you advise and applaud discriminating against another group to 'fix' it.
Dave: "We have a long road to travel before equal opportunity is a reality. Anything that helps this state be achieved is a step in the right direction."
How do you get to 'equal opportunity' when the first thing you do is agree with opportunity for some? (ie. AA)
Nazh,
I didn't say I agreed with you. I said, you "believe" those persons are being dicriminated against. But, AA is not a "fix" as you want to use it.
I'm not using anything as a 'fix' as you put it.
Tell me you believe that the people that do NOT get hired because of AA are not being discriminated against and we'll just have to drop the whole thing.
Two wrongs still don't make a right.
Nazh,
It's a cyclical argument. AA was designed in response to the presence of deeply ingrained discriminatory practices in our society. You point out that AA perpetuates discrimination under a different guise, and while that may be true, it is important to remember that the discrimination was already here in the first place.
It is all too easy to say "hey this is how it is, suck it up, deal with it.. but don't mimic it." When in order to win the game, you have to play the game, on a level playing field. Considering that no one has devised a comprehensive, effective, realistic solution to eradicate discrimination, the only option currently is to fight fire with fire, play the game within the defined rule set.
Instead of spending your energy criticizing AA, invest it in offering up more effective alternatives. Until someone is able to do that, devaluing AA is a moot point.
Why would I have to 'come up with an alternative' if AA is not a fix as you put it?
I'm not arguing WHY AA was put into place, you asked if it was a good thing, I said no because it promotes discrimination.
Again, it matters not who is discriminated against, it is the same end. What happened in the past is reprehensible, but this does not 'make it better' unless you are talking about giving a job to someone that was denied one THEN, not someone who wasn't even alive then.
You and X apply for a job, You are qualified for said job, X is almost qualified, X is a minority and you are not. Under AA, X gets the job and you get to go home.
Now again, is AA good?
In response to your example. This has happened to me, and it had nothing to do with AA. I have been turned down while others are "grandfathered" in. I have been turned down while others are hired because the employer preferred "former military types."
Preferential hiring, and work place discrimination would exist even if there was no such thing as race. At least AA attempts to address this situation for a group of people who have been seriously held down by American society. If anything, I would like to see a more prevalent form of AA that stated preferential hiring on the basis of any superficial characteristic was illegal.
Bottom line is, American society is structured so that just by being born a Caucasian, you have a leg up on the competition because you do not suffer the same social stigmas. By demonizing AA, and other programs that seek to even the playing field, you are essentially taking a stance of "yeah I recognize these inequalities exist, but tough shit, people need to learn to overcome them all by their lonesome, with no assistance, even though society is structured to prevent them from being able to do so."
Even if a minority figure IS hired, and they DO succeed, it is a *fact that they are paid less then a white male doing the exact same job, and that has nothing to do with education or whether or not they get hired. It's double jeopardy for some, and you cannot even find the compassion in your heart, to allow people who are at a disadvantage by default, to be given a break. This world is not black & white. It's gray.
Take a Sociology course. Read about "The Glass Ceiling" and "The Concrete Ceiling." Familiarize yourself with Frederick Douglass' writings.
AA is not a reward. AA is not reparation. AA is not a pass.
Affirmative action isn’t about creating a system of reverse discrimination the purpose of the policy being enacted is to be proactive against discrimination. It recognizes the issues of segregation and discrimination of yesterday are still present today just in another form. Over the years we have transformed from a society in which overt racism was rampant and common place to one that is characterized by covert racism. A great example of the persistence of discrimination is the 30% pay discrepancy between blacks and whites for of equal education and qualification, what one of the main forces behind this occurrence, covert discrimination according to research. Not only does the gap exists between blacks and whites but also men and women and old and young to name a few.
Affirmative Action has decreased dramatically both overt and covert discrimination, by functioning as a figurative big brother watching out for the historically marginalized groups. The interpretation that opponents seem to have is they mistakenly think of affirmative action as taking for example jobs from qualified whites and giving them to less qualified minorities. Affirmative action at it beginning did indeed do just that, for a brief period of time. The revamped form of Affirmative Action that has reigned in American the last 20 years, ensures that the Good Ol’ Boys Club doesn’t continue to maintain the past hierarchy with them on the top, by the denial of opportunity to the outsiders. This hierarchy I have just spoken about still to this day continues Affirmative Action counters the effects and gives the outsiders a fair chance at success.
The term discrimination is thrown around a lot on this blog. But, what exactly is meant when bloggers state that Affirmative Action discriminates. If what is meant by the statement is that Affirmative Action discriminates against those who deny opportunities’ to the historically marginalized in order to maintain a hierarchy to keep them on the top. By, imposing monetary penalties for not judging people by the content of their character and qualification then yes it a discriminatory policy.
When speaking about Affirmative action what must be taken into consideration are the ways in which societal structures make it easier for some by providing a plethora of opportunities and scare chance at opportunities for others based upon characteristics that are out of a person’s control such as race, ethnicity, gender etc. These structures are so deeply engrained that they cannot be organically eradicated from society and in my opinion there will never be a time when some form of discrimination will not exist. To this day we do indeed have discrimination based on race, class and gender as evident by the overwhelming evidence of sociology researchers. Affirmative Action puts pressure on the various sectors that are subjected to Affirmative Action to treat people fairly, by watching over their shoulder and implementing punishment when things don’t go as they should. In a country that prides itself on in the opportunities based on individual meritocracy, in which social mobility is a real possibility, how could one be opposed to Affirmative Action?
Affirmative Action isn’t a system of pay back for past wrong doing contrary to popularly held belief. Affirmative Action ensures that all have a fair chance by leveling the playing field. If we as a country are going to market ourselves on the ability to provide opportunity and we accept the undeniable fact that societal structures give some an advantage over others, then Affirmative Action is necessary and fitting. Affirmative Action allows American to near its famous motto the land of opportunity, by attempting to provide all with equal opportunity.
On the other hand if we desire a caste system maintained by the famous Good Ole’ Boys Club and heavily influenced by societal structures then Affirmative Action is a bad thing. It all depends on if we as Americans want to be true to the class system based on individual meritocracy or not.
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