Melanie Rogers

Affirmative Action
Affirmative action means positive steps taken to increase the representation of women and minorities in areas of employment, education, and business from which they have been historically excluded. When those steps involve preferential selection; selection on the basis of race, gender, or ethnicity affirmative action generates intense controversy. I will be discussing to the pros and cons of affirmative action, and the effects on society, in the work place and our schools. Diversity is desirable and won't always occur if left to chance. Part of the education process is learning to interact with other races and nationalities. Many students live very segregated lives up until the time they start college. The opinions of other races and nationalities are based on stereotypes and not experience. The real life interaction allows students to learn that people of the opposite race are people too, more or less just like themselves. One of my favorite movies Remember the Titans, which was based on a true story, is an excellent illustration of this. In the beginning, the football players portrayed in the movie are heavily segregated and opposing to the other race. The coach forces them to room with a player of the opposite color, as well as learn some facts about each other. To make a long story short, they become lifelong friends and accomplish an undefeated season. Since this diversity is desirable, we want to make sure colleges represent a wide range of backgrounds. Unfortunately, without affirmative action, this diversity is much less likely to occur. Its possible

schools will become segregated like in past decades. Elite schools may become increasingly dominated by majority students. Diversity is so important; and we can't leave it to chance. Students starting at a disadvantage need a boost. Minority students, generally speaking, start out at a disadvantage in their college or job application process. They usually come from lower income families and have less opportunity to go to private schools as white students. Some inner city youths must also live their childhoods in high crime, drug infested areas. Sincere, hard working minority students are every bit as capable as white students, but because of these disadvantages, they may not have the same paper qualifications. Affirmative action evens the playing field a bit. Affirmative action also draws people to areas of study and work they may never consider otherwise. Whether its men being brought into nursing, women brought into technology fields, or minorities brought into Ivy League schools, it is always desirable to bring people to areas of study or work that they may not have considered otherwise. The more we change stereotypes, the less we'll need affirmative action in the future. One of the main advantages to having a diverse workforce is the union that occurs between people from different backgrounds, cultures and work values. Collaboration among diverse populations can bring out the creativity in otherwise bland work teams. Employees feel good about diversity that occurs naturally, instead of forcing diversity into the workplace.

Affirmative action also has some cons. It lowers standards of accountability needed to push students or employees to perform better. If a minority student can get into Harvard with a 3.2 grade-point average, why should she push herself to get a 4.0? Although some students or employees are selfmotivated, most people need an extra push or incentive to do their very best. By setting lower standards for admission or hiring, we are lowering the level of accountability. We should reward hard work, discipline, and achievement; we shouldn't reward a student simply because he or she is a certain race, or punish another student simply because he or she isn't. Students admitted on this basis are often ill-equipped to handle the schools to which they've been admitted. Imagine a high school science fair contestant suddenly asked to take a rocket scientist job at NASA. There's a possibility of success in these situation, but it's more likely that it will be in over their heads. Schools like Harvard and Yale have high GPA and SAT requirements because it is extremely difficult to graduate from them. So, when they're forced to lower standards to achieve a minority quota, some students can't keep up. This isn't to say these students are less capable, but chances are that if they can't meet minimum requirements, they probably aren't ready to go there. The far-lower graduation rate of minorities is testament to the fact that they are too often going to schools that don't match their ability. The original application criteria of schools were put in for a reason. We should adhere to them.

It demeans true minority achievement; i.e. success is labeled as result of affirmative action rather than hard work and ability. Ask Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, or Herman Cain how they got to where they are hard work or affirmative action? All achieved their positions through hard work, and because they're bright and articulate. My guess is that they would all be offended if you said they got to where they were strictly because of affirmative action. The same can be said of minority doctors, lawyers, business leaders, etc. Too often, their achievements are demeaned by people who believe preferential treatment got them to their current positions. Minorities must then work twice as hard to earn respect. Once enacted, affirmative actions are tough to remove, even after the underlying discrimination has been eliminated. Times changed, society learns and grows. A racist attitude can dissolve over time, as they have in this country. Even race extortionists like Al Sharpton have to admit that the country nowadays is worlds ahead of where it was in the 60s. In almost all areas of the country, discrimination and racism are a thing of the past. The majority of the country voted a black man into the Presidency. Still, a number of affirmative action policies remain in place, even when the vast majority of people would agree they're no longer necessary. Unfortunately, lawmakers move slowly and must haggle over everything. It's tough to get hundreds of people and multiple branches of government to agree on anything. Also, as we all know, the agenda of politicians often don't match those of the people. Corruption and special interest groups can influence the government into inaction.

Reverse discrimination is probably the most significant advantage of introducing affirmative action. It tends to put an end to discrimination and unfair treatment to students/employees on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, or national origin, while in reality, the opposite takes place. Caucasians work harder and are more qualified than African Americans. As a result, they are strictly passed over the African Americans in all fields of education and employment. With the introduction of affirmative action, a poor Caucasian is overlooked by a rich minority student, simply because of these measures. Affirmative action not only fails to overcome the problem of racism, its discriminatory character inevitably makes racial divisions and pits worse and turn Caucasian and minority workers and youth against each other in the struggle for a completely inadequate number of jobs or educational opportunities. Affirmative action affects our schools, jobs and society as a whole. It helps some and hinders others; there will always be advocates that are for and against this policy. There will always be those who complain, believing that this is political correctness gone mad and that it discriminates against the most capable in society, but generally those who complain are Caucasian, middle-class and male. Of course, theyre bound to have issues with a policy, which could make their lives more difficult, but for others affirmative action represents an opportunity to succeed. Not everyone has the same chances in life and affirmative action seeks to redress the balance somewhat, so that regardless of race or gender, people have a more equal shot at success.

Works Cited
"Affirmative Action." About the USA. 1 June 2009. Web. 09 Feb. 2012. <http://usa.usembassy.de/classroom/affirmativeaction.htm>. Nittle, Nadra K. "Contemporary Affirmative Action - Affirmative Action Supreme Court." Race Relations. 21 Oct. 2011. Web. 09 Feb. 2012. <http://racerelations.about.com/od/thelegalsystem/a/AffirmativeActionThisCentury andBeyond.htm>. "Pros and Cons of Affirmative Action: Addressing the Debate over Social Equality | Suite101.com." Cirrelia Thaxton | Suite101.com. 14 Mar. 2010. Web. 09 Feb. 2012. <http://cirrelia-thaxton.suite101.com/pros-and-cons-of-affirmative-actiona213331>.