A school that requires its attendants to pass a test is charged with discrimination when it does not meet the quota for its admittance. The answer to this problem, from a supporter of affirmative action, is the inflation of the minorities’ grades on these tests. Institutions are then forced to keep a certain balance in the diversity of their student body, which can lead to the inflation of the minorities’ grades on all subjects. This grade inflation would then lead to a poorer education and the reality of a failing education system. This same kind of comparison is evident in the work force.
This lack of knowledge is even more important than most people realize. A content-rich core curriculum is the only viable remedy. I, too, believe there is a degree of irony within Hirsch’s claims. He believes the progressive movement is responsible for movement away from academics. In turn, it has caused a lowering of standards, which has had its greatest impact on minority students.
The fault in special admissions programs is that they will us e skin color as a more important factor that academic and personal merit. Thus, those who deserve advancement may not receive it, due to affirmative action and the associated reverse discrimination. By doing so, the various ethnic groups will be di vided and possibly end up competing. Another problem with the special admissions program is that it does not take into account the disadvantaged who are in the majority, not the minority. And finally, it is seen as charity to the minorities by many individuals and civil rights groups.
Yes blacks did experience significant educational and occupational gains during the 1970’s, their upward mobility has since tapered off, notably in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Scholars who even disagree with certain aspects of his thesis agree that this group needs special assistance in order to overcome the obstacles that they face. The Civil Rights era “victories” have not resulted in increasing percentages of blacks gaining access to college training. Most blacks attempt to establish careers with only so many credentials. Even though the vast majority of blacks are neither extremely poor nor particularly well educated; most blacks would be considered lower middle –or working-class and
Another problem was that even though there are anti-discrimination policies, a slight differential treatment towards minorities is still present. Employers expect and demand more input from minority groups and that is why people are hesitant to leave their workplace to cast a vote (Rivers, 2012). An outside source looks at voting from a different perspective. An interestingly opposing statistic is that minority groups with higher education and social status take the time to participate, as voting is very important to them. They want to take part in the choice of their government because it took so long and so much effort for them to receive the equal rights and abilities to enjoy democracy (Speel, 2010).
Losing Sight of Affirmative Action Terry Eastland’s essay, Ending Affirmative Action, makes a compelling yet distasteful argument about the proposal of putting an end to affirmative action due to the negative experiences encountered. In a positive effort to support this proposal, he explains how preferential treatment is now being given to minorities and because of this preference and how generalizations are made about minority achievement based on the misconception that affirmative action allows “lower standards” with the accompaniment of underrepresented ethnicity in order to fill a race appropriate quota. Thus, harming the image of today’s minority community by the mere suggestion that a person received a
He goes on to say in the second misperception, “college graduates are finding it harder to get good jobs with liberal arts degrees”, but “the recession has no differentiated among major fields of study in its impact” (192). Ungar believes students who focus on one particular field of study do not learn necessities such as writing and literary texts, and this puts them at a disadvantage when compared to a liberal arts graduate. While long-standing jobs, such as doctors and lawyers, will not become extinct soon, liberal arts graduates have a better chance of employment in most areas. 95% of employers surveyed would give hiring preference to graduates with skills to contribute in the workplace. 74% would recommend a liberal arts education to a young person they know today, so they will be prepared for success in today’s global economy.
Sylvia Grega Baynton Essay It is shown in Baynton’s article titled, “Disability and the Justification of Inequality in American History” that many Americans believe disabilities to be a source of shame and embarrassment for the nation. It could be that exact shame and embarrassment that causes American’s today to continue to treat individuals with disabilities differently than the rest of society. We feel bad for them, they are not considered “normal”, but then again, what the hell is normal? Well societies definition of normal is able-bodied individuals, and people that can communicate in a social environment without the help of outside resources. Us who are deemed normal in our world, we generally avoid direct interaction with anyone
Examples of Ethnocentrism Ethnocentrism is a major reason for divisions amongst members of different ethnicities, races, and religious groups in society. Ethnocentrism is the belief of superiority is one's personal ethnic group, but it can also develop from racial or religious differences. Ethnocentric individuals believe that they are better than other individuals for reasons based solely on their heritage. Clearly, this practice is related to problems of both racism and prejudice. While many people may recognize the problems, they may not realize that ethnocentrism occurs everywhere and everyday at both the local and political levels.
The Affirmative Action program was initially an emergency stop-gap measure to resolve a serious and immediate problem. Like many other temporary corrective measures in our country, it was imperfect: the guidelines were vague and definition unclear, with a misguided understanding of merit. The term itself has many definitions. Some see affirmative action as simply a way to produce nondiscrimination and equal employment opportunity. Others distinguish it as preferential treatment or quota hiring: choosing people solely because of a race or gender identity, with little or no reference to their qualifications or actual disadvantage.