Affirmative Action Is Not the Solution Essay - 1340 Words

nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Affirmative action is a social policy created to promote the welfare of minorities by supporting the idea that individuals are all created equal and should not be judged by race or gender. Therefore, in situations like job and university applications, we should consider minorities to be as feasible a choice for hire as a white male candidate, taking into consideration their background. In short, it tries to give minorities that have been at a disadvantage their whole life, an opportunity to ‘equal the playing field’ by providing a broader context by which to measure an applicant or prospective employee. In the end, however, this goal is not realized. Instead, superficial ‘quotas’ are established and the†¦show more content†¦Bob had six months to prepare for the race while John had a ball and chain tied to his leg for the entire six months. Without a doubt, I would believe that Bob would win this race. However, if we interpol ate affirmative action into this analogy, we would justifiably be assisting John. Unfortunately, the problem isn’t that we are helping John, the problem is the way we are helping him. Instead of releasing John from his ball and chain, affirmative action would be placing a heavier ball and chain on Bob forcing John to meet a lower expectation, thus not inherently removing the ball and chain, but rather using it as an excuse to justify his shortcomings. Implicitly, this would then create animus and resentment against Bob, rather than empathy and compassion for his disadvantage. Although the motive behind affirmative action is moral and just, in practice it seems to fail and causes an even more unequal treatment of race and sexuality. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The unequal treatment brought on by affirmative action brings us to the second argument against it: Affirmative action itself violates the principles of equality. The main goal behind affirmative action is to ensure that all individuals are treated equally, not to create more inequality. However, white individuals are simply used as a means to an end and unfortunately more discrimination is created. If we were to take a look at both analogies above, the white male was treatedShow MoreRelatedEssay on Is Diversity The Solution to Affirmative Action?2725 Words   |  11 PagesIS DIVERSITY THE SOLUTION TO AFFIRMATIVE ACTION Equal employment practices, in many organizations, have been established through affirmative action programs. These programs were created by government mandate to create a fair and non-discriminatory working environment in organizations. The need for affirmative action was recognized as early as the 1940’s, as a concept, based on the racial diversity of our country. The goal was the redistribution of opportunities on the basis of race. Now as weRead MoreAffirmative Action in Colleges1218 Words   |  5 PagesHispanics. 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