My opinion on
affirmative action is that it is an outdated system that instead of
accomplishing what it truly was set out to accomplish it is instead creating
more complications and challenges with aversive resolutions. In the news you
cannot escape the debates on race, gender, religion, or national origin
discrimination because we are a melting pot nation on which we welcome everyone
to come and enjoy the privileges of being a free American citizen. We are the
home of the free and land of the brave (supposedly) except most of us grew up
with traditional habits that are continuingly reinforced by outdated
reinforcements. On any given application whether it be an application for
college or a job the question of race is asked. Why is race even a
consideration on whether someone is qualified to perform the job? Another
questions is male or female, why is this an issue aren’t we all supposedly
equals?
We are not
treated as equals because we have not learned how to treat people as equals, we
have instead been taught to treat others differently according to the person’s
race, religion, gender, national origin etc. These are not relevant issues when
it comes down to performing the responsibilities, instead what it comes down to
are the person’s qualifications, skills, ethics, values etc. I would make a
wager to say that a university would much rather accept a student with ethics
and values then one who lacks a moral compass because the ethical student would
be less likely to cheat on an exam regardless of the color of their skin. This
brings me to another issue who is to say that color can be black or white? We
are a combination of colors and national origins this is not the 1800s. We are in the Millennium of mixed races,
cultures and this is the issue with affirmative action. I personally do not
consider myself as white because the color of my skin is more of a beige, and I
am a mutt culture so to say, meaning I am Irish, German, Norwegian, English and
who knows what else. I cannot trace my roots to one single country. I am
instead an American.
Recently in the
news I found a story on a ‘white’ girl named Abigail Noel Fisher who filed a
lawsuit challenging her rejection from acceptance at the University of Texas.
She was not accepted into the University, although she felt she was qualified,
because she was not in the top 10% at her high school. She was instead ranked
in the 12% so this put her application in a holistic review pile in which many
factors are considered in determining the acceptance, race being one of them.
Abigail went on to graduate from another college, but the issue she had with
the university was never resolved because she felt that other classmates with
less qualified applications were being accepted and the only difference between
her and them was the color of her skin.
At this time the
Supreme Court has sent the suit to be reviewed by lower courts, but from what I
have read I have my own opinion on whether or not she should win, and that would
be a no. I don’t feel as though she should win because all that would do is
reinforce the idea of race being the issue as to why the university did not
accept her. I do agree she was overlooked probably because of her race; however
that may not have been the only factor so it cannot be determined 100%. I am
happy the issue was brought to light as I feel the affirmative action regulations
needs to be eliminated completely.
Affirmative
action was developed for all the wrong reasons, it was a way to “correct past
discriminatory policies by ensuring groups are treated fairly” (Bell, 1995). I
agree the way in which African Americans were treated was absolutely
horrendous, however I do not know one living person today that treated them
unfairly because that population is dying out. If none of us living have been
the actual accusers why are we still paying the toll and reliving past
mistakes? We obviously as a society have moved more towards an diverse
population, we have a black president. This does not say all people have the
same beliefs but as usual majority rules.
The true issues
on discrimination do not involve just blacks its everyone Muslims, Indians,
Mexicans, Gays, women etc. no one can escape the prejudices that have happened
and continue to occur. If we are a nation paying our debts to African Americans
then why is it fair they can have television networks specifically designed
only for African Americans? BET Black Entertainment Television for example is appalling
to me! If I as a white person wanted to start WET White Entertainment
Television I would be targeted as a racist and it would be denied and I would
face backlashes. Why is this fair? My issue is not a black and white thing it’s
a everyone thing if we keep pointing out the differences in everyone instead of
empowering the abilities, skills, education, accomplishments, openness, awareness,
and every other desirable quality within a human being then we will always have
the need for affirmative action.
Affirmative
action does have good qualities in that it provides minorities with a chance to
go above and beyond with additional opportunities not given to them in the hand
of life they were dealt. It also creates diversity among colleges and work environments,
which is a necessity today. Affirmative action does make it known that we are
trying to make up for past mistakes by making sure to prevent them from reoccurring
again in the future, but is this actually a negative? Affirmative action fails
to give equal opportunity to all deserving students. For example if a black and
Hispanic are qualified for the same position at work, but the Hispanic culture
is a minority at a certain establishment does that mean a black person will be
overlooked because they want the Hispanic culture to have equal numbers? In this situation what should have been
considered was the abilities of the individual not the color or culture backgrounds.
As a woman I
fall within a minority and I also have been proclaimed a victim of past
discriminations so the affirmative action is supposed to be beneficial to me;
however it hasn’t changed anything. Just within this Module we learned about
woman being paid less, having less opportunities and receiving more backlash
for our different ways in which we lead. I am sure that without affirmative
action we would not be where we are today, but it needs to be reevaluated now.
Affirmative action can be viewed as more of a crutch for some people to have in
order to obtain a job position or get accepted into a desired university. It
has not decreased stereotypes but increased them. People use it against others
to make them feel inadequate and it also insults minorities proclaiming it’s
the only way in which they could successfully obtain the job or college
position. It has created a reverse discrimination “whites are being penalized
at the expense of some of the affirmative action programs” (Bell, 1995).
We as Americans
need to eliminate our narrow-minded views and habits of filtering out people
based on things they cannot control. We need to eliminate applications asking
about race, gender, national original, culture or anything else that is
irrelevant and begin empowering all human races to go above and beyond what is
expected. We are only different on the out surfaces we are all made up of the
same ingredients on the inside. Its time we start measuring someone by their abilities
and not their color.
References
Bell,
A. (1995, Feb 17). Lawmaker seeks to end affirmative action programs. The
Patriot. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/docview/273208934?accountid=27203
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