Why the double standard?

Question

Should we get rid of affirmative action and other race-based laws?
Our government made race discrimination illegal with the civil rights laws of the '60s, which I totally agree with. No one should be treated unfairly because of race, sex or religion. However, our same government gives special treatment to minorities for government jobs, loans, even housing. If a private employer asked a person for their race on a job application, they would be sued for racial discrimination, but our government can and DOES consider race when giving out govern. jobs, or loans, housing. I even applied for a loan at a private bank online once and they asked me for my race, which I couldn't believe was even possible.

I think special treatment race-based laws do more harm than good. It causes minorities to depend on their skin color and not their skills, which in the long run does serious damage to them. Why the double standard?

Answer 1

I have to admit that I took advantage of AA laws to make it though a good school and get a mortgage.

I agree that in some cases they do more harm than good in that it perpetuates a victim mentality that many Americans (not just minorities) seem to thrive off of today. No one is responsible for anything. We're blaming slavery, our parents, religion, blah blah blah. There are plenty of people who have done amazing things with there lives without a hand out.

I'm grateful for the financial aid that I received (and it only paid a fraction of my tuition, but it was better than $0), but I did feel uncomfortable when I learned that I only needed a C average to get into great schools while my white friends had to have a near perfect GPA and SAT scores. I don't want to get things because of the color of my skin - it breeds resentment in others and I have to work 10 x harder to prove myself to over come the perceived favoritism and the negative stereotypes plaguing the black community.

However, I've also know people who for reasons beyond their control (disfuctional home life) who got bad grades, etc, and AA gave them a 2nd chance to get out and get up.

So, I can see the role, but I'm beginning to wonder if it's outlived it's usefulness, especially in a society when the white population will soon only be 50% of the entire population.

Answer 2

You have two ways to look at it. The first is the concept of social darwinism. If you're good enough, you'll succeed and no help is ever needed.

However, it's hard to argue that it's more difficult to succeed as the first of any group. Affirmative action programs have encouraged companies to spend a little more effort to find qualified canidates that may not look the same as all the people they already have. Over time, it's helped people come to the understanding that you can have competent (and incompetent) people from any group.

Is affirmative action still needed is a hard question to prove one way or another. But without the push to try, we may not have the variety of professionals we have today. Female doctors, black lawyers, chinese architects etc are all part of our work force and we have the chance to take advantage of the skills of best our country can find.

Now, just about anyone can claim some form of minority status, and I don't know of too many serious abuses of diversity programs in corporate america today. I know I think it helped that my college tried to get a diverse mix. Did some white person of equal qualifications have to go to another school? Possibly. But having the collection of the diverse backgrounds was a learning experience for me that I'm grateful for.

Answer 3

The UK has just introduced a whole new raft of discrimination laws that are intended to promote fairness in the workplace. These include measures to prevent discrimination against race, sex and now age. These attributes are to be ignored when vetting for prospective employees.

However, these practices are, in part, unworkable. Although an employer cannot discriminate against sex and race it is almost impossible to guarantee that this is the case. When looking through a pile of resumes it can be obvious that prospective candidates will fit certain profiles - variations in names along racial lines, etc.

It may be that there is still discrimination in place on a subconsious level in some cases. I think that this is where positive discrimination comes to the fore. In countries like the US, where litigation is so prevalent, some companies (and the government also) are paranoid about getting busted for discrimination. They put these measures in place as a safety net, but at the same time they are causing friction.

In an ideal world we wouldn't need these measures, and we will all live in the most perfect meritocracy. However, we are far from this state, so these policies are keeping us all in check.

Answer 4

You are viewing this the wrong way altogether. First off skin color has nothing to do with it, I am a Mexican woman, and I am not brown. I have light colored skin. And your talking about the whole race, do you not realize that there is more to each race than what you are made to see? And the few people that do take advantage of what the government offers, and let me make it clear that "white people" do exactly the same thing, do not represent a race as a whole.

I agree with you on the fact that no, race should not play a factor in many of the things you mentioned. But unfortunately it does, and its not the people who have made it that way. The government makes their own rules, their own requirements, if the government wouldn't facilitate all of these things would they be happening??

Answer 5

The "double standard" is the most important part of politics and government. " Do as I say, not as I do" These laws do much more good for government than they do for anyone else. This technique perpetuates discrimination between the little guy ( The People ) while the ruling power can claim to be only trying to "Fix" the problem, while the little guy bickers and grows more discriminative because of the supposed "special favors" ( because they care so much ) the government puts out there.

All pat of the " Manipulation Game "

All humans DNA is 99.9% exactly the same, also out of 35,000 genes, only 10 represent color.

Race is not the problem, the problem is our willingness to be "Sheeple"

Answer 6

I think is was necessary up until about five years ago. Now I see so many successful people of color, starting their own companies and going to college and doing well by any standard, that I see less of a necessity for it. But I still think it should be tracked to make sure bias won't reappear for a while yet. Yes, its true that there is still disproportionate poverty, but I really don't think that's going to have a solution outside of the community these people (and I mean any group of people here so don't get angry)are in. When one of your own tells you to buckle down, go to school, do well, go to college, don't have babies before marriage, it means so much more than an outsider or dogooder sticking her nose in.

Answer 7

jobs shoud go to the people that can do them the best . Race , Religion , sex nor age shoud have nothing to do with the pick
In fact the only questions on the application shou deal with the job and nothing dealing with the person. Not even a name.. Just numbered applications.

Answer 8

The double standard is there that the government feels pressure to have its officials and employees reflect the ethnic diversity in the nation.

For loans and housing- Perhaps, although I haven't come across it. Perhaps less minorities apply for housing and loans than what is their part of the population- in such a case the government could feel- perhaps unjustly to favour minorities.

Answer 9

It not only is wrong but doesn't even then make these minorities happy, they still want more! Worse our tax dollars goes into this and then they turn around and slap me in the face saying it isn't good enough! I think people need to step up and start protesting this and get more people aware of whats going on.

Answer 10

I think Affirmative Action is reversed discrimination.