Can we kill affirmative action?

Question

If it were not for George Bush (among ither things)I would probably be republican. If for no other reason that to kill affirmative action. Because all AA has succeeded in doing is undermining the achievementof ever Black professional.

The following is a response another user posted:

"I would be very skeptical about going to a blak doctor or dentist, I would not hire a blak lawyer, and I am suspicious of blak cops, I automatically assume they were not the best qualified person to get the job, because they were given preferences, special tests, or were hired using subjective criteria"

Even if Black person graduates at the top of their class white people are going to look at them as if they had an unfair advantage. Is this a good enough reason to kill affirmative action.

Answer 1

I think that we should keep Affirmative Action. Because minorities are not giving a fair chance in the job market.

Answer 2

We should kill affirmative action because it has more then done it's job. It's still easy enough for any employer to turn somebody down for a job based on their race, sex, or whatever. The only difference is they can't tell their boss they turned them down for that reason-they just make up something about not liking a person's attitude, how they presented themselves, and other myriad excuses.
The point of Affirmative Action was to guarantee jobs to minorities and women who were underrepresented in the workforce. As you've pointed out though, it's really hard for a lot of people to accept on the surface that a black professional worked hard to get where they are, but at the same time I'm more trusting of a black doctor with a degree on the wall than I am of an (East) Indian doctor-if only because
I know the black guy grew up with a similar cultural experience to me, in addition to being able to understand him better.

Answer 3

I think there was a strong need for AA policies in the past but I also think that the majority in society is ready to embrace hiring practices that hire the best person for the job regardless of race. In fact, for the exact reasons you mention, it would be a good idea for us to embrace a new color blind policy. The sad fact is that the suspicion you talk of is NOT completely unfounded. Private companies and government agencies are under a lot of pressure from EEO officials to make sure their minority quotas are filled. I know they hate the word quota but that's exactly what it is, because if your company or agency demographic does not reflect that of the local population there can be sanctions. Also, I worked for the personnel department of a government agency (a state college) for several years and I can tell you that there were many occasions when I was told to go through the list of applicants and ONLY CALL IDENTIFIED MINORITIES for an interview. Also, the college's president at the time insisted that the final five candidates for a faculty job MUST INCLUDE at least two identified minorities. If no minorities applied for the position, the position had to be re-advertised.

Also, the faculty positions, which are normally advertized in academic newspapers that all current and potential faculty members should be reading, also had to be advertized in various publications with a predominantly minority readership. So what does that tell us about the mentality of those in charge. It says that the proponents of EEO have little confidence in a minority candidate's ability to have the common sense to obtain and read academic publications. How condicending is that to the potential minority candidate?

So suspicions of being hired only due to minority status are not unfounded. They are real and they hurt everyone.

Answer 4

In the beginning, the idea behind AA was to allow people of different race to achieve positions and goals that they simply weren't allowed to. Most of the time these people were very qualified, if not over-qualified, for the position that an under-qualified person, usually a Caucasian, got. Now, AA simply is used to put people of different race in positions that other people feel it would be politically-correct for them to have, to the disappointment of someone else who was better qualified for the position. I have absolutely no problem if my doctor was a different race, but if I found out that he simply got it because the administration felt there wasn't enough "color"? Yea, I'd be suspicious then.
No matter who you are, what your race is or what your origins are, if you have the potential, intelligence and ambition to achieve a respected position, you deserve it then. But for someone to give any other person an advantage because of something that has nothing to do with the job itself? That's just stupid.
M vote would be to kill it. That's what Work Equality is all about.

Answer 5

I am a bi racial person who see things from both sides and I agree with just ano. The person above me doesn't understand and isn't informed. Why do you think groups like Angry White Guys for Affirmative Action exist? They see the division AA cause and support it. You must not of read just ano. post very well because she mention gender so apparently she doesn't want to be preferred over men. This is rare. Stereotypically women want to be preferred in the workplace since they think like lot of minorities that they need a boost. And propaganda and media spinning has society believing AA is a good thing. But this isn't true for any of us. You say white women benefit from AA the most but this isn't true. Why do you believe white mans statistics and then say your skeptical of white people. You don't make sense. And spots are filled according to AA demand [[or quotas as some people say]]. But it's still a race issue so I don't get your meaning. Racial decisions are racial decisions no matter what you say. Rules? Think about what you're saying.. Think first and speak later. Rules that are created by white people are not rules that every white person is responsible for. I am part white and I didn't create any rules so I'm not a victim of my own rules. Skepticism? I didn't read anything in the question that say anything about the asker being skeptical. But no one deserves skepticism just because of race, my friend. I'm not answerable for what others do. The remainder of your response is loaded with generalizations about white people. I suppose you would deny it if I called you a racist, but what do you think racism is? For someone who espouse such stereotypes why do you think you have a valid complaint against racism? All stereotypes are bad no matter who believes them and you render your argument irrational by being all about stereotyping people. These stereotypes are very sickening~~~ "Today's generation of white act as if being white should be a ticket to "happily ever after" and less about hard work. Inside every white person is a white supremacist waiting to come out." What do you think when people say, black people act like being black should get them hand outs. You think that's stereotyping don't you? How are you any different? By having these stereotypes you are helping racism. You say"Personally, I could give a sh*t what people especially whites think of me."But you are missing the point I think is being made. I don't want you to care about what anyone thinks of you. You shouldn't care about what people think unless their thoughts are put into action. If people didn't care about what people thought of them then maybe racism would stop because maybe people would be less bothered by the thoughts of others and would allow their minds to be open to the fact that racists don't speak for entire races. People should jsut realize AA is one of those things that promotes racism and so they shouldn't support it.

Answer 6

you're maximum suitable. Any black expert would nicely be discounted (notwithstanding not verbally, on condition that is racism) as being a beneficiary from AA and, consequently, possibly not as sturdy as a non-black. the project is, only some blacks surely be conscious of this. the main efficient ones understand the stigma that it places on them and that they had prefer to do away with it. yet, the overwhelming majority, who're nonetheless interior the Jessie Jackson/Al Sharpton entitlement camp have faith that's necessary. they say they are going to shop it in place whether Obama turns into President, simply by fact his Presidency nonetheless would not show the reality that blacks have an excellent enjoying field. as long as that maintains to be the everyday public opinion of the black inhabitants, they are going to proceed with Affirmative action and proceed to undermine their own self photograph.

Answer 7

Killing AA would only benefit white men for no apparent reason since white men have lost little because of it. The mistake white women make is believing AA is for minorities. They are the statistical group which has benefited the most.

Propaganda and media spinning has society(whites) believing it is targeted to benefit blacks. False!! It flooded the male dominated work-force with women who originally would have been homemakers.

With regards to education, most whites don't know this and I have wrote on this before, when a white person applies for college yet does not get accepted, it is not because an AA minority beat you for your spot. The truth is, native born Asians are considered white so when they apply to school its under the pretense of being white. If you think I am wrong visit you local college or university and pay attention to the ratio of Whites to Asians. Almost identical in numbers.

Like everything else whites are a victim of their own rules. The skepticism you have about blacks, I have about whites these days. Whites are not as hungry as those of the past and care less about this country like prior generations. Today's generation of white act as if being white should be a ticket to "happily ever after" and less about hard work. Inside every white person is a white supremacist waiting to come out. Whites trust the hell out of each other, but turn on each other much quicker. Whites measure family, friends, religion, food, education, etc by how much money you are worth. Talk is really cheap to a group of people that places money ahead of anything else.

Personally, I could give a sh*t what people especially whites think of me. The US is a environment of show and prove at the end of the day if AA got me over, remember AA was created by White men for White women, but minorities are believable scapegoats.

For the record, I can take of leave AA and mostly leave it since it doesn't work anyway.

Answer 8

It is in the interest of every member of american society to move the black underclass out of poverty and into the middle class as quickly as possible. I also participate in forums that concern themselves with the problem of crime, and the statistics are alarming and incontrovertible: young black men commit crimes at astounding rates. Look for yourselves:

http://www.ojp.gov/bjs/homicide/race.htm

Black people also have the highest rate of poverty (12%) of any category except for the unemployed (15%):

http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/STTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-qr_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S1703&-ds_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00

Education is the only path out of poverty for black people. Quality education must become the rule and not the exception for Black students, and the top priority must be to prepare them to compete on an equal footing with students of other races at the college level.

Yet the public schools attended primarily by black students continue to be poor environments for learning more often than not. This is the problem that creates the "need" for affirmative action.

The only solution that I see is a more aggressive approach to improving public education in predominantly black public schools.

Answer 9

Please that person would not go to any of those black professionals if there was no affirmative action, the same person who wrote that statement is the same kind of person who will say " I won't go to a black doctor, dentist, or lawyer just for the simple fact that they are black" using the aa reason just makes them to look non discrimatory... don't let some of these people fool you ... I could really care less about what some white folks think, I know what I have put into my work and I don't need their accolades to validate me or my work...

Answer 10

Affirmative action has it's pros and con's.

Yes...AA can give an African American a fair chance at a job from a Racially Discriminating employer.

Yes..AA can make an employer higher a lesser qualified person for a job because of Government regulations.

Also...that QUOTED comment is obviously from an extreme racist.

No matter what goes on...no one will be happy.
No matter what someone does. It'll never be good enough.

The African Americans fought for equal rights. They fought good and hard for fair treatment.
Now that the government makes it 3x's easier for a Black man or woman to better themselves you want to get ride of it?

Answer 11

Never will happen.Not until we admit the voluminous studies on racial differences are valid and need to be addressed.Pretending we are all equal in all areas of life is why we have entitlement programs and double-standards,free rides,race preference,and buried racial crime statistics.The above comment is reality.How can one know if a Black is qualified for a given profession if academic awards and certificates are handed out without merit?How can one know if a Black doctor is one of the few that actually earned his degree?