Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary Identifies affirmative action as “an active effort to improve the employment or educational opportunities of members of minority groups.” Some people say that the United States is the “land of opportunity,” which in many ways is true, depending on your race. The U.S. needs to embrace affirmative action as a means of establishing equality and equal opportunity, not as a way to make up for past wrongs committed. Former U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson said this regarding affirmative action, "This is the next and more profound stage of the battle for civil rights. We seek… not just equality as a right and a theory, but equality as a fact and as a result (Johnson as cited in Katel, 2008).” Affirmative action is essential in the pursuit of equality and opportunity, because of the past injustices that have determined the current economic status of minorities in our country.
Before anything else it is important that the reason behind affirmative action be addressed. Most people don’t realize that the short history of 375 years in which black people have been on this continent, 245 years have been of slavery, 100 have been legal discrimination, and only the last 40 or so have been of anything else (Wilkins 1995). The simple fact is many minorities are still seeing the after-effects of legal discrimination and for some even slavery. In the words of Lyndon B. Johnson, referring to the next step after the civil rights movement, "You don’t take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him… To a race and then say, 'You are free to compete with the others,' and still… [Think you’ve been] fair (Johnson as cited in Katel, 2008)." It isn’t that the United States needs to “make-up” for what they did in the past, (in a way they do) what they need to do is first recognize why certain minorities are struggling more than others. On top of that discrimination is still very present, (Rohrbach-Perry, 2005) explains that even today, “many African Americans are still being denied jobs and economic opportunity because of their race.”
The next step is to see how this past and current discrimination has contributed to the current economic status of certain racial groups. In the United States race and class are closely intertwined. In fact “African-Americans and Hispanics are likely to be poor: 25 percent of African-Americans and 20 percent of Hispanics live below the poverty line, but only 10 percent of whites are poor” (Katel, 2008). The United States shouldn't be interested in affirmative action because they feel bad when certain people aren’t performing. They should be interested in affirmative action because the people they treated poorly in the past and that are still discriminated today are ones living in poverty. Some suggest that perhaps it has something to do with the intelligence or drive of those people but the issue is about situation not capability. As Millery Polyne explains, “Black intelligence should not be the issue…. However, poor schools, unequal distribution of wealth, increasing numbers of black and brown men and women filling up [prisons] serve as a stronger argument for lagging test scores (Polyne, 2006).” Affirmative action is in place because minorities have for a long time lacked the opportunities that whites have—opportunities to succeed.
Poverty in the United States can be an almost impossible cycle to climb out of. This has a lot to do with the fact that if a person is poor; they probably live in a poor area. Since they live in a poor area taxes are lower and the public schools which kids who live in that area go to will have less funding and often lower quality teachers. Since the schools are bad it is hard to get a good education and even if they do well in school, College is usually out of the question. Because going to college means a lot of money that a person living in poverty certainly doesn’t have. On top of all that poorer areas usually have more crime so the neighborhood they live in is probably dangerous. So without a college degree this person can’t get a well paying job, they don’t move up in society and they grow up have kids and that person’s kids go through the same thing that person did. “Only those persons with a solid financial and educational foundation (also a strong personal network) will be able to make significant strides in this society. Subsequently, upward mobility and opportunity are restricted to those with wealth and influence (Polyne, 2006).” There are a lot of people stuck in poverty who aren’t lazy and even for the people who are lazy and do give up, it is hard to blame them because what good is trying if someone is a mediocre student why try if everyone tells them it won’t matter. If an upper or middle class (usually meaning white) person is a mediocre student they usually have to opportunity to go to college because they have money. Since they went to college and have a degree they can probably get a job that pays at least decent money. Gary Orfield said,
The educational achievement gap between racial groups began growing again in the 1990s, our public schools are becoming increasingly segregated by race and income, and the segregated schools are, on average, strikingly inferior in many important ways, including the quality and experience of teachers and the level of competition from other students . . . It is clear that students of different races do not receive an equal chance for college (Orfield as cited in Katel, 2008).
Is it hopeless for a person to come out of poverty and be successful? No, but it isn’t easy in any way shape or form.
Affirmative action isn’t about giving someone a free ticket because the U.S. treated their grandfather poorly; it is about making sure they have the same opportunity that everyone has, the same one that wasn’t given to minorities in the past. There is no easy or perfect way to do this however but Millery Polyne does a good job of explaining what it should look like. “Affirmative action ... is really about access to resources and institutions of higher learning in the face of ... persistent discrimination and economic inequality (Polyne, 2006).” The U.S. government isn’t going out of its way to give certain people chances they don’t deserve, the government is going out of its way so that no one will be rejected a position based on ethnicity or race. Richard D. Kahlenberg explains that a person’s grades or testing score can reflect how good of a student they are, but it is also closely linked to what kind of opportunities they have had. Affirmative action is a way of giving opportunity to those who originally never had it. “Affirmative action [simply includes] a larger number of qualified applicants to compete…. Affirmative action allows... people of color and other minorities access to higher education, jobs, and business opportunities which have been historically out of their reach (Flores, 2006).”
The main goal of affirmative action is that it would make equality much more of a reality. Everyone is different and that is a good thing, diversity is a wonderful thing. “What we want is really quite simple: the right to compete and participate on a level playing field, equal access and equal opportunity (Flores, 2006).” People tend to think well does affirmative action mean that minorities will get into certain schools that they don’t deserve to go to?
Yet the affirmative action conflict focuses on black students, who are assumed to be academically under-qualified, while white students' place at the best schools isn't questioned. The classroom reality differs, we have a whole range of students with different abilities. All of the weak students are not minority students; all of the strong students are not white students (Coleman as cited in Katel, 2008).
If the U.S. wishes to seek equality for everyone affirmative action is a step in the right direction.
“The underlying philosophy behind affirmative action is the notion that blacks and Hispanics aren't that smart and aren't prepared. We must help these little brown people, and the blacks. That's where affirmative action programs come from." (Murdock as cited in Billingsley, 1998). Critics of affirmative action say that discrimination means treating people differently regardless if it is positive or negative so affirmative action is still discrimination. Some claim that they are sick of affirmative action because it is debasing and that many co-workers will assume that they only got that job or position because of their skin color (Connerly as cited by Billingsley, 1998). Many point out that other countries that have tried programs like affirmative action and have intended for it to be a temporary program end up with a permanent policy on their hands (Sowell as cited in Billingsley, 1998).
Many countries have tried affirmative action but affirmative action isn’t something that only takes a few years. So maybe it takes a while but that doesn’t mean that it is permanent. In a study between 1990 and 1994 out of 3,000 [workplace or hiring] discrimination cases documented, less than 100 were discrimination towards a person of the majority race and of those only 12 were found to have any legitimacy (Flores, 2006). Referring to the data collected Professor Alfred Blumrosen said, "many of the Cases were the result of a disappointed applicant failing to examine his or her own qualifications (Blumrosen as cited in Flores, 2006)." Many people think that minorities are taking all our jobs and in no case are they qualified but both of those statements are misinformed and very false. In fact, In the U.S., Blacks represent 12.4% of the population, and Latinos represent 9.5%. Yet for example in the in the United States 91% of doctors are white (Flores, 2006). In fact if you compare Californian’s in their late 20’s, the difference in a salary of Black, Latino, or Female ranges from $3,500 to $8,700 less per year than compared to a white males salary of the same age group. The problem is clear; it is not true that whites superior to other races. The problem lies with our countries traditions and with the opportunities white people were given and receive today compared to the opportunities of someone of a different race.
If the United States wants to someday be a truly equal country it needs to first provide the minorities of the country better opportunity to do well than they have had in the past. A lot of minorities in the U.S. are in tough situations and have been in the sick cycle of poverty for too long. It is up to the United States to help in way that provides certain opportunities and a true chance for equality, where maybe someday people will be able to appreciate one another's differences but at the same time be on a level playing field with access to good employment and higher education.
At this point there is no good solution to easily fix this problem. A good start is to at least be aware of the fact that there is a problem and that many minorities who are living in rough situations aren't too lazy or too dumb to be going to college or getting a normal job. They just never had the opportunity to begin with.
References
Affirmative Action. (2010). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.
Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/affirmative action
Billingsley, K.L. (1998). Affirmative Action Is Racist. In Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Retrieved from http://find.galegroup.com
Flores, H. (2006). Affirmative Action Allows Minorities to Compete Fairly. In Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Retrieved from http://find.galegroup.com
Katel, P. (2008, October 17). Affirmative Action. CQ Researcher, 18, 841-864. Retrieved from CQ Researcher Online.
Leporini, C. (2004). Affirmative Action Helps Make American Business More Competitive. In Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Retrieved from http://find.galegroup.com
Pachon, H. (2004). Affirmative Action Should Not Be Eliminated. In Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Retrieved from http://find.galegroup.com
Polyne, M. (2006). Affirmative Action Promotes Equal Access to Education. In Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Retrieved from http://find.galegroup.com
Rohrbach Perry, E.A. (2005). Affirmative Action Programs Promote Justice for African Americans. In Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Retrieved from http://find.galegroup.com
