Affirmative action? Constitutional? Who really pays?

Answer 1

Let's see... Affirmative action places emphasis on race, color, creed...

Didn't I read somewhere, equal regardless of race color or creed??

Answer 2

The SCOTUS has NOT declared affirmative action constitutional for a government entity. It has said it's constitutional IF it doesn't make race a deciding factor - but then, that's what affirmative action is.

I don't see why people think there is a need for affirmative action. I have known people of every race and ethnicity and I just don't see any differences of intelligence or ability that are related to race or ethnicity. It's not in a business' best interest to pass over the most qualified job candidates in order to promote or hire lesser candidates and that's not only why affirmative action is wrong, it's why discrimination is wrong in the first place and it's why larger companies, who are answerable to their shareholders, don't practice widespread discrimination.
And the logic behind it doesn't make sense - 12 generations ago people of one race were slaves, 3 generations ago there was more widespread discrimination of that race, but for the last 35 years society has bent over backwards to benefit people from that same race to "compensate" for things that happened to their parents or great-great-great-great-gread grandparents. And because I'm "white," I supposedly "got all the benefits" just because 8 generations ago, when my ancestors were dirt poor potato farmers in Ireland and fur-trappers in Quebec, some OTHER white people mistreated some OTHER black people - that makes zero sense.

The government should treat people equally. It should not benefit people of one race at the expense of another just because of what happened among completely different people several generations ago, which has nothing to do with people today.

Answer 3

In limited applications, SCOTUS has decided (unfortunately, imo) that affirmative action is indeed constitutional. I personally feel it violates the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.