Can I get pros and cons on affarmative action?

Question

Cross x quetions

Answer 1

PROS -
1. It takes more than one or two generations for a society to recover from the scars of generations for slavery followed by generations of Jim Crow.
2. And there is also the fear that many would not give a black man a chance if he were not forced to. That is what affirmative action attempts.

CONS -
1. It creates the image that blacks need special help, that standards need to be lowered in order for blacks to succeed. How can that attitude be viewed as anything but insulting!
2. It casts doubt as to whether the person you are dealing with got the job because he was the best, or just because he just had the right skin shade.
3. It gives whites an excuse to say blacks have all the breaks & why they need to help "their own people" instead of being equal.

Every time I hear someone say they know someone who didn't get a certain job because they hadn't met thier "quota" of Blacks, I cringe, knowing this just perpetuates more bigotry. It doesn't matter if it's the truth or just a loser's excuse for not getting a job. If people believe it as the truth, the effect is the same.

So, while I applaud the intentions of affirmative action, I fear it actually does more harm than good.

Answer 2

I don't know what "Cross x quetions" means.

I recently read about a recent, big study that followed up on blacks who had benefitted from affirmative action in education.

Unlike common perception, they went for and got post-grad degrees in the same proportion as their white peers, and did as well in their careers.

The most striking difference between them and their white peers was that a much greater proportion of the blacks "gave back" to their home communities, and poor communities in general.

They felt they'd been given a lucky break in access to high quality higher education, and wanted to help those at the bottom of the rung, and society in general get some advantage from their fortune.

As I recall, although they did face some "you're only where you are because of affirmative action" on the whole they were valued by their colleagues for the quality of their work.

I'm inclined to think that all such programs should target all poor, not just ethnic minorities. (The result would still disproprotionately help minorities, as they are disproportionately poor, but would have less appearance of being unfair. And those from poor areas and crappy schools all deserve a break.)

Answer 3

The pro is that it gives greater weight to the job applicant from a group that has historically been discriminated against.

The con is that it's racism, and at its height, in the 1980s, was used to justify hiring less-qualified applicants ahead of better qualified applicants based on skin color.

A funny-bone tickler: my alma mater college used to advertise in the paper for jobs. At the bottom of the ads, it's say:
An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
That's funny because you can be one or the other, but not both simultaneously.

Answer 4

CON - Qualified people are kept from getting a job or into a college simply because of their skin color/heritage. Isn't that what the Civil Rights movement was meant to stop?

Not every white person grows up in a world of privilege. Not every white kid goes to a good school where the get a quality education. Not every white kid is descended from racists or slave owners, so why are they punished by today's laws simply because they are white?

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Answer 5

Pro- It get employment for people who might otherwise not be considered and who may have poor connections.

Con- It discriminates against people on the basis of their race who have done nothing wrong and are qualified. The term "reverse discrimination" is totally meaningless unless you can demonstrate that the individuals being cheated (often for life) have themselves discriminated against the person being given unearned advantages.

Answer 6

When it was first instated it served the purpose of making opportunities available to individuals who were denied them in the past. NOW, it has become a reverse discrimination. ANY responsible Black leader decries it and states it is doing more harm than good. Just like unions. When they first organized, they were needed. Now, they are corrupt and inept.

Answer 7

Pros, stops racism. Cons, causing complaints of reverse racism, which is racism. The sooner people can accept intelligence despite race and sex, the better the world will be.

Answer 8

Difficult to understand your question.
All actions must be taken after taking in to consideration
the pros & cons.
All actions have equal reactions-You know.

Answer 9

Forcing people to act may get you what you want in the short term, but people don't like to be told what to do. It creates resentment.

Answer 10

affirmative action supports racism and the idea of recieving special treatment due to skin color .