Affirmative Action is Not the Answer Essay - 843 Words

Affirmative Action is Not the Answer Created in the 1960s, affirmative action programs attempted to undo past racial discrimination by giving preference to blacks and other minorities. The idea behind these programs was to help minorities gain the representation in the job market that paralleled their percentage of the population (Finley 1). Unfortunately, affirmative action has mutated into a thirty-year-old policy that places many underqualified minorities in positions over more qualified non-minorities. Preferential treatment of minorities has caused problems not only in the workplace, but also in our universities throughout the country. Due to these current circumstances,†¦show more content†¦On the contrary, it has done exactly the opposite because affirmative action poses a conflict between two cherished American principles: the belief that all Americans deserve equal opportunities and the idea that hard work and merit, not race or religion or gender or birthright, should determine who prospers and who does not (Roberts 32). This leads to a series of problems at universities. For example, we cannot expect college students to see everyone equally unless everyone is considered equal when applying for college. Affirmative action has created a situation in which the minoritys society now tells them that if they will only designate themselves as black on their college applications, they will probably do better in the college lottery than if they conceal this fact (Steele 322). Remove the section on college applications titled Race, and consider students by their hard work in school, not by the color of their skin. And how can we even be surprised that there is racial tension among students in universities? The white student sees minorities as undeserving, while the minority student sees the whites as racists that are participating in a larger institution that works against black people (Duster 64). Another fault with affirmative action is thatShow MoreRelated Affirmative Action and Racial Tension Essay1691 Words   |  7 PagesAffirmative Action and Racial Tension    Affirmative action. What was its purpose in the first place, and do we really need it now? It began in an era when minorities were greatly under represented in universities and respectable professions. Unless one was racist, most agreed with the need of affirmative action in college admissions and in the workplace. Society needed an active law that enforced equality during a period when civil rights bills were only effective in ink. With so much of America ¹sRead More Affirmative Action: Keeping minorities down for 30 years. 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Racial identity is the meaning each of us has constructed or is constructing about what it means to be a white person or a person of color inRead MoreThe Third Man By Richard Rodriguez1478 Words   |  6 PagesHowever, after the Negro Civil Rights Movement, they begun to claim the benefits of affirmative action that came with being a Hispanic.. Affirmative action policies were created to ease any stigma, stereotypes, and discrimination that minority groups exhibited. Consequently, employers were discouraged from rejecting people because of their color and race. Rodriguez’s assessment of Hispanic use of affirmative action is seen in form of an anecdote: Not so long ago, Hispanics, particularly Mexicans and