Affirmative Action

1673 Words4 Pages

Affirmative action is meant to be an attempt at equality throughout society. It

supposedly proposes that each person receives equal opportunities in the classroom

as well as the work force. Not only would this apply to minorities but to women

as well. Every sector in America would be equal and unprejudiced - or so proponents

say. On the other hand, adopting affirmative action would force many employers to

replace hard-working employees with those of less qualification simply due to their

gender or ethnic background. Many people feel that affirmative action would be very beneficial to our society. They have many thought-inspiring arguments. Some claim that we owe blacks for what we took from them in the past. We gave them a setback in our economic system, and affirmative action would be our way of reimbursing them for time and opportunities they lost out on (Norman 50). But where should the line be drawn; how much do we do to repay people - in this case blacks - for past wrongs? Is it enough to give them equal rights, or will we give them extra opportunities to make up for those

we took away? It has been argued that the black sector in America, in general, is

lower in class due to their environment prior to the Civil War, but the black people

of today are not those who lived then. Each person today - no matter their gender,

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origin, race, belief, or whatever difference has the same opportunities as everyone

else. In my opinion no one needs any special favors to get ahead. In this paper I will discuss some of the problems with affirmative action. These include disgruntled employees, reverse discrimination, and the negative effect on our economic status. People who are for affirmative action have many possible positive outcomes as a result of this law passing, some of which have already been implicated. The first subject I will discuss is diversity in the work place, including women and minorities.

Proponents of affirmative action attempt to show that diversity in the work force

has brought w...

... middle of paper ...

...urface affirmative action sounds and looks good. How could giving people an opportunity to work and learn to get along be a bad

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idea? But after looking deeper into this concept, it seems that the scale of benefits are still not evenly spread amongst the community. After looking at all the negative outcomes, the choice should be clear. This is obviously not the right plan to help our social and economic system and we should stop using it until we can find a better choice.

Works Cited

Abner, Lacy. Discrimination behind a mask. Lighthouse publishing co. Boston, 1996

Carlton, Melinda. Affirmative Action and Affirming Diversity. Public Management.

Florida, 1997.

Norman, Jim. Politics of the nineties: Americas Verdict on Affirmative Action

is Decidedly Mixed. USA Today. June/July 1997: 49-52.

Internet website. www.washingtonpost.com

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