This seems to be the case because employers are still discriminating against citizens and meeting “racial quotas”. “That race helps to determine an individual’s acceptance to a college is not affirmative action, it is discrimination in action”(Robinson). Race-neutral, gender-neutral, protection was the first version of Affirmative Action proposed by Lyndon B. Johnson. This version consisted of everyone having an equal opportunity in the work place as well as in all educational facilities, without a person’s race, sex or
This process is done usually by institutions of giving preference to racial minorities or women when hiring, giving awards, or deciding whom to admit. Preferential treatment, instead of doing justice: violates right; the right of an applicant “to equal consideration”, the right to maximally competent to an open position, and the right of everyone to equal opportunity. Affirmative action is reverse discrimination it does the same injustice that the Jim Crow discrimination did, by violating the public equality which defines citizenship. Colleges may soon have to revamp the decades old efforts to promote racial diversity after the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to reconsider the constitutionality of affirmative action in admissions. But no matter how the court acts, recent history shows that when courts or new laws restrict affirmative action, colleges try to find other ways to increase minority admission.
Today, these quotas have long since been banned, but some argue that special considerations toward minorities are still apparent and disrupt their rights for equal opportunity. On the one hand, they argue that qualifications should be based on merit rather than race or gender, and that it implements reverse discrimination. One the other hand, those who support the concept of Affirmative Action insist that equal opportunity is reached by helping those races faced with disadvantages and that it compensates for discrimination in the past. My own view is that special consideration should not be given to minorities because it is contradictory in their intent to create equal opportunity, therefore increasing racial tensions instead of promoting it. By protecting and giving preference to minorities, Affirmative Action unwarily discriminates against the majority, therefore contradicting its own intent for equal opportunity.
As college neared filling out applications became more of a ritual, and I found that by being born into a white middle class family would hinder my financial status rather than help it. Recently an article appeared in the Iowa State Daily, which addressed the issue of a white-only scholarship. In addition to the scholarships offered to members of the minority races, a scholarship should be offered to the members of the decreasing majority. Whites or Caucasians make up a group just as Native Americans, blacks, and Hispanics do. The one thing that separates whites from these other groups besides skin color is the fact that for each minority group, there are several scholarships that pertain to each.
Many people claim that this distinction in race is necessary because the society in which we live is still racist and only parents of the same ethnic group would be able to give enough cultural support to the children. On the other hand this distinction on races can be considered racist for some people and it could contribute to create a racist society. In the section called “Room for Debate” of the New York Times website, we can find a debate showing different arguments about this issue. In the depate there are three participants with very clear and strong positions. One of the participants is Kevin Noble, author of the article “Not a Deciding Factor but not to be ignored”.
Even those who view the inherent inequalities of the American system, however, and argue that minorities are in some need of institutionalized help to overcome systemic problems also see the policies Affirmative Action as more of a hindrance than a help. This essay will argue that while certainly biases and inequalities exist in American society, and that members of minority populations are in need of some type of assistance in education and job placement
I rather think that McIntosh is referring to the failure of the system to eradicate the existence of racism in the society. It is not the individual who is at fault for he/she did not choose to have those privileges. However, it helps to realize how people of other color feel about them and to understand how racism works. Learning Work and Family “I am a working
And the public schools in black ghetthos have a very bad standard, so that the whites send their children to private or religious schools. A second aspect is, that white parents don’t want their children belonging to the minority, because they are scared of getting a bad reputation. Another reason for those standards is the school financing by the use of local rates. Rich people in a district will have more money to invest in a school, so that it will have better teachers.
Because of my awareness of racism, I am now bothered by acts and behaviors that might not have bothered me in the past. Before when racial comments were said around me I would somehow ignore it and pretend that nothing was said. By ignoring comments such as these, I was protecting myself. It became sort of a defense mechanism. I never realized I did this, until I was confronted with stories that were found in our discussions by other people of color, who also ignored comments that bothered them.
Here, Lanston could be criticizing white society as a hypocrite. The white culture encourages people to be who they are, celebrating for those who truly perform themselves; nevertheless, the society is actually intolerant of differences. Huges reinforces the irony by stating his background information such as his age, skin color, birthplace, schools he attended, etc, to show that he, a black, knows who and what he truly is, mocking the prejudiced white people’s artificial behavior. The second stanza shows Hughes’ view that a black and a white are equal. For example, the line “I guess being colored doesn’t make me not like the same things other folks like who are other races,”(Huges, 2271) shows the very idea