Affirmative Action

Affirmative Action

Is Affirmative Action fair?

Though affirmative action may have been valuable in the beginning, many will say it has long since outlived any usefulness it may have had. That it ever had any usefulness is questionable to begin with, based on comparisons between overall black populations socioeconomic standing today and that of the mid 1960’s. Today it is little more than a scapegoat behind which inferior performance can hide very well, and that scapegoat’s upkeep has become far too noticeable in today’s society.     
Affirmative action in theory and in thought is intended to promote the welfare of this country’s minorities by supporting the idea that individuals are equal and should not be judged by race or sex. Therefore in situations like job and university applications, we should consider minorities to be as feasible a choice for hire as a white male candidate, taking into consideration their background. In short, it tries to give minorities that have been at a disadvantage their whole life, an advantage they have never been open too. This does not happen, instead “quotas” are established and the discrimination that was once placed on the minorities now turns the other way.
Let’s make up a hypothetical situation. You are sending in your first college application to Harvard. There is only one spot left open between you and someone who is black. You have slightly better grades, both of you are excellent in sports you have more volunteer hours, and completed 2 foreign languages where he only has one. Applying affirmative action, you would not get the last position because of the need for ethnic diversity in the college atmosphere. Is that fair or is that right?
Affirmative action must be looked at as what it really is. A stepping stone for those individuals who never had the opportunity to get a great education, a chance to prove that if they were not one particular skin color, that they would be allowed into that position of power no matter what...

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