Affirmative Action
Affirmative action is a failure. Enforced by executive order 11246 affirmative action was intended as a temporary measure to level the playing field within education and the workplace for African Americans. After forty-eight years of biased and preferential treatment it is time for affirmative action, as we know it, to end. Affirmative action is outdated and in modern times only serves to create systemic problems within educational institutions, while causing long-lasting harm to individuals.
Affirmative action is a piece of outdated legislation and acts as an unfair weighing mechanism of potential students. Affirmative action had its place in history, it was created at a time when skin color was the greatest barrier to education and success. …show more content…
It’s said that affirmative action is in place to reverse the negative effects of years of discrimination. Of course, this begs the question of why we use reverse discrimination to fix past discrimination. Also, the idea that affirmative action is not a remedy for disadvantage, but instead, an effort to promote “diversity” which creates a better learning environment. “This same push for "diversity" also has led Stanford to create racially segregated dormitories, racially segregated freshman orientation programs, racially segregated graduation ceremonies and curricular requirements in race theory and gender studies.” (Source 1) Moreover, minority students should be seen more as people and less as something to bring “flavor”, through diversity, to the classroom. Some go as far as to say, that without affirmative action women and minorities would not be represented at schools, however this argument is unintentionally insulting to the women and minorities, as it seems to imply that these people could not gain entrance to top universities without affirmative action.
Most of all, the idea that the most disadvantaged members of society are helped by affirmative action is a fallacy as minorities and women from lower classes aren't helped by affirmative action, only those individuals from privileged …show more content…
The poor experience the worst conditions within education and this should be taken into consideration during the application process. Race is not a meaningful weighing mechanism for an applicant, but escaping through hard work from poverty is something that should be considered in college
Affirmative action is a piece of outdated legislation and acts as an unfair weighing mechanism of potential students. Affirmative action had its place in history, it was created at a time when skin color was the greatest barrier to education and success. …show more content…
It’s said that affirmative action is in place to reverse the negative effects of years of discrimination. Of course, this begs the question of why we use reverse discrimination to fix past discrimination. Also, the idea that affirmative action is not a remedy for disadvantage, but instead, an effort to promote “diversity” which creates a better learning environment. “This same push for "diversity" also has led Stanford to create racially segregated dormitories, racially segregated freshman orientation programs, racially segregated graduation ceremonies and curricular requirements in race theory and gender studies.” (Source 1) Moreover, minority students should be seen more as people and less as something to bring “flavor”, through diversity, to the classroom. Some go as far as to say, that without affirmative action women and minorities would not be represented at schools, however this argument is unintentionally insulting to the women and minorities, as it seems to imply that these people could not gain entrance to top universities without affirmative action.
Most of all, the idea that the most disadvantaged members of society are helped by affirmative action is a fallacy as minorities and women from lower classes aren't helped by affirmative action, only those individuals from privileged …show more content…
The poor experience the worst conditions within education and this should be taken into consideration during the application process. Race is not a meaningful weighing mechanism for an applicant, but escaping through hard work from poverty is something that should be considered in college