The Failures Of Affirmative Action Essay, Research Paper

The Failures of Affirmative Action

Once upon a clip, there were two people who went to an

interview for merely one occupation place at the same company. The first

individual attended a esteemed and extremely academic university, had

old ages of work experience in the field and, in the head of the

employer, had the possible to do a positive impact on the company & # 8217 ; s

public presentation. The 2nd individual was merely get downing out in the field and

seemed to miss the aspiration that was seeable in his opposition. & # 8220 ; Who was

chosen for the occupation? & # 8221 ; you ask. Well, if the narrative took topographic point before

1964, the reply would be obvious. However, with the slightly recent

acceptance of the societal policy known as affirmatory action, the reply

becomes ill-defined.

After the United States Congress passed the Civil Rights Act

in 1964, it became evident that certain concern traditions, such as

senior status position and aptitude trials, prevented entire equality in

employment. Then President, Lyndon B. Johnson, decided something

needed to be done to rectify these defects. On September 24, 1965, he

issued Executive Order # 11246 at Howard University that required

federal contractors & # 8220 ; to take affirmatory action to guarantee that

appliers are employed. . . without respect to their race, credo,

colour, or national beginning ( Civil Rights ) . & # 8221 ; When Lyndon Banes Johnson

signed that order, he enacted one of the most discriminating pieces of

legislative assembly since the Jim Crow Laws were passed.

Affirmative action was created in an attempt to assist minorities

jump the discriminatory barriers that were of all time so present when the

measure was foremost enacted, in 1965. At this clip, the state was in the

aftermath of countrywide civil-rights presentations, and racial tenseness was

at its extremum. Most of the corporate executive and managerial places

were occupied by white males, who controlled the hiring and fire of

employees. The U.S. authorities, in 1965, believed that these employers

were know aparting against minorities and believed that there was no

better clip than the present to convey about alteration.

When the Civil Rights Law passed, minorities, particularly

African americans, believed that they should have requital for

the old ages of favoritism they endured. The authorities responded by

go throughing Torahs to aide them in achieving better employment as respite

for the old two hundred old ages of enduring their race endured at

the custodies of the white adult male. To many, this made sense. Supporters of

affirmatory action asked, & # 8220 ; why non allow the authorities assist them acquire

better occupations? & # 8221 ; After all, the white adult male was responsible for their

enduring. While this may all be true, there is another inquiry to

be asked. Are we genuinely responsible for the old ages of persecution that

the African Americans were submitted to?

The reply to the inquiry is yes and no. It is true that the

white adult male is partially responsible for the suppression of the African-

American race. However, the single white male is non. It is merely

as unjust and suppressive to keep many white males responsible for

past persecution now as it was to know apart against many

African americans in the coevalss before. Why should an honest,

hard-working, unfastened minded, white male be suppressed, today, for past

unfairness? Affirmative action accepts and condones the thought of an oculus

for an oculus and a tooth for a tooth. Make two wrongs make a right? I

believe female parent taught us better than that.

Affirmative action protagonists make one big premise when

supporting the policy. They assume that minority groups want aid.

This, nevertheless, may non ever be the instance. My experience with

minorities has led me to believe that they fought to achieve equality,

non particular intervention. To them, the credence of particular intervention is

an entree of lower status. They ask, & # 8220 ; Why can & # 8217 ; t I become successful

on my ain? Why do I need Torahs to assist me acquire a occupation? & # 8221 ; These African

Americans want to be treated as peers, non as incompetents.

In a statement released in 1981 by the United States

Commission on Civil Rights, Jack P. Hartog, who directed the undertaking,

said: Merely if favoritism were nil more than the ill-conceived Acts of the Apostless

of a few prejudiced persons would affirmative action programs be

& # 8220 ; change by reversal discrimination. & # 8221 ; Merely if today & # 8217 ; s society were runing

reasonably toward minorities and adult females would mensurate that take race, sex,

and national beginning into history be & # 8220 ; discriminatory treatment. & # 8221 ; Merely if

favoritism were firmly placed in a well-distant yesteryear would

affirmatory action be an unnecessary and drastic redress.

What the committee failed to recognize was that there are

1000s of white males who are non know aparting yet are being

punished because of those who do. The Northern Natural Gas Company of

Omaha, Nebraska, was forced by the authorities to let go of 65

white male workers to do room for minority employees in 1977

( Nebraska Advisory Committee 40 ) . Five major Maha corporations

reported that the figure of white directors fell 25 % in 1969 due to

limitations put on them when affirmatory action was adopted ( Nebraska

Advisory

Committee 27 ) . You ask, “What did these white males do to

conveying about their expiration? & # 8221 ; The lone offense that they were guilty

of was being white. This barely seems just to penalize so many inexperienced person

work forces for the offenses of a comparative few.

But the unfairness toward the white male doesn & # 8217 ; t terminal at that place.

After the white male has been fired, he has to travel out and happen a new

occupation to back up his household that depended on the company to supply

wellness attention and a retirement program in return for old ages of difficult work.

Now, because of affirmatory action, this white male, and the 1000s

like him, necessitate more accomplishments to acquire the same occupation that a lesser

qualified black adult male needs. This is, for all purposes and intents,

favoritism, and it is a jurisprudence that our authorities purely enforces.

Affirmative action is non merely unjust for the working adult male, it

is highly prejudiced toward the executive, every bit good. The norm

concern executive has one end in head, and that is to maximise

net incomes. To make his end, this executive would of course engage the

most competent adult male or adult female for the occupation, whether they be black or

white or any other race. Why would a concern adult male deliberately do

his concern to lose money by engaging a ill qualified worker? Most

wouldn & # 8217 ; t. With this in head, it seems unneeded to use any policy

that would do him to make otherwise. But, that is precisely what

affirmatory action does. It forces an employer, who needs to run into a

quota established by the authorities, to engage the minority, no affair

who is more qualified.

Another manner that affirmatory action deducts from a company & # 8217 ; s

net incomes is by coercing them to make occupations for minorities. This occurs

when a company does non run into its quota with bing employees and has

to happen topographic points to set minorities. These occupations are frequently unneeded,

and coerce a company to pay for workers that they do non necessitate.

Now, Don & # 8217 ; t acquire the feeling that affirmatory action is merely

nowadays in the work topographic point. It is besides really powerful in instruction. Just

as a white male employee needs more certificates to acquire a occupation than his

minority opposition, a white male pupil needs more or better accomplishments to

get accepted at a esteemed university than a minority pupil.

There are complete subdivisions on college applications dedicated to race

and cultural background. Colleges must now hold a wholly diverse

pupil organic structure, even if that means some, more qualified pupils, must

be turned off.

A perfect illustration of this can be found at the University of

California at Berkeley. A 1995 study released by the university said

that 9.7 % of all recognized appliers were African American. Merely 0.8 %

of these African American pupils were accepted by academic standards

entirely. 36.8 % of the recognized appliers were white. Of these accepted

white pupils, 47.9 % were accepted on academic standards entirely. That

agencies that about sixty times more African Americans pupils

were accepted due to non-academic influences than white pupils. It

seems difficult to believe that affirmatory action wasn & # 8217 ; t one these outside

influences.

Another interesting fact included in the 1995 study said that

the mean grade point norm for a jilted white pupil was 3.66

with an mean SAT mark of 1142. The mean grade point norm for

an recognized African American pupil was 3.66 with a 1030 norm SAT

mark. These arresting facts shows merely how many competent, if non

talented pupils fall between the clefts as a direct consequence of

affirmatory action ( Affirmative action ) .

Well, I believe that the job has been identified ;

affirmatory action is going a signifier of rearward favoritism. It is

now clip for the physician to order a possible redress. Society

should work towards wide based economic policies like public

investing, national wellness reform, an hypertrophied income revenue enhancement recognition,

child support confidence, and other policies profiting households with

immature kids. Widely supported plans that promote the involvements

of both lower and in-between category Americans that present benefits to

minorities and Whites on the footing of their economic position, and non

their race or ethnicity, will make more to cut down minority poorness than

the current, narrowly based, ill supported policies that individual out

minority groups. However, if this, or another redress is non taken

sometime in the close hereafter, and affirmatory action continues to

separate minority groups from Whites, we can be certain to see racial

tenseness range points that our history has ne’er seen.

& # 8212 ;

Plants Cited

& # 8220 ; Affirmative Action at the University of California at Berkeley & # 8221 ;

Online.

October 28, 1996. hypertext transfer protocol: //pwa.acusd.edu/ e_cook/ucb-95.html

& # 8220 ; Civil Rights & # 8221 ; Compton & # 8217 ; s Synergistic Encyclopedia. ( 1996 ) . [ Computer

Program ]

SoftKey Multimedia International Corporation.

United States. Commission on Civil Rights. Affirmative Action in the

1980 & # 8217 ; s:

Leveling the Procedure of Discrimination. Washington: 1981.

United States. Nebraska Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on

Civil Rights.

Private Sector Affirmative Action: Omaha. Washington: 1979.