Affirmative Action Essay: Time to Stop Special Privileges

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Affirmative Action: Time to Stop Special Privileges

Imaging being a young, black, grad-student, fresh out of law-school, looking for a job. You find and apply for the career of your dreams, only to find later that you didn't get the job. Petitioning the employer for an explanation, you find that you weren't hired due to the color of your skin. Wouldn't this enrage you? Would you cry "discrimination", and take the employer to court? Many people would sympathize with you and grant you the decision in the court case. Discrimination like that has no place in today's society. Now imagine the exact same scenario, only instead of being black, you're white. You find and apply for the career of your dreams, only to find later that you didn't get the job. Petitioning the employer for an explanation, you find you weren't hired due to the color of your skin. Wouldn't this enrage you? Would you cry "discrimination", and take the employer to court? Most people in today's society would have no sympathy for you. Because of being white, it is assumed that you've had more opportunities and more people have helped you on your way in life. Is this fair? In two scenarios, identical in everything except for skin tone, two complete opposite conclusions have been drawn. What brought this about?

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." (Declaration of Independence . pp. 20)

The United States was founded on the ideals that equality was a right of all mankind, and all people should be allowed to better their lives. However, the existence of slavery took away these rights from African-Americans. After the Civil War abolished slavery, many white people believed blacks were inferior and the...

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...e available to all, or none.

Bibliography

Biskupic, Joan. "Affirmative-action ban gets green light" The Denver Post . Nov. 4, 1997

"Declaration ofIndependance" The World's Great Classics. Basic Documents of American History. New York:Grolier, Inc. pp. 20-25

Gwynne, S.C. "Back to the Future" Time . Jun. 2, 1997. pp. 48

Hutchison, Keely. Positive and Negative Implications for Individuals. [online] University of South Carolina. Available: http://ecuvax.cis.ecu.edu/academics/schdept/psych/Impla1.htm

Pooley, Eric. "Fairness or Folly?" Time . Jun. 23, 1997. pp. 32-36

Tyson, Amanda. History of Affirmative Action. [online] University of South Carolina. Available: http://ecuvax.cis.ecu.edu/academics/schdept/psych/ahist.htm

Whitaker, William A. "Affirmative Reaction" Harper's Magazine . May1997. p. 24-25

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