Affirmative Action?
Affirmative Action has decreased in popularity and implementation for years now, getting a worse and worse reputation as years go by. Along with Social Security, Welfare, and other once-popular and extremely effective forms of poverty reduction and equality promotion it’s fallen victim to a malicious and persistent campaign to wipe it off every law-book, both Federal, State, local, and even private policy (companies choosing to voluntarily implement Affirmative Action) in the United States. It’s unfortunate that the average white American doesn’t really understand what Affirmative Action is, and tends to view it unfavorably as a result.
What’s worse, one of the major beneficiaries of Affirmative Action regard it in an equally negative light. White women have been one of the major targets of Affirmative Action, promoting their access to predominantly or exclusively male enterprises and raising their wages in an effort to bring them to parity with men. Massive gains have been made by women, both through their ingenuity, bravery, perseverance, and hard-work as well as political policies that open the doors and allow them to effectively use those skills without restraint.
A number of myths are spread, heavily, and adopted by the greater culture as fact. The same myths that are “common knowledge” but are never supported by fact. We’ve all got the welfare queens pictured in our heads, people living indefinitely on government handouts, the poor being lazy and shiftless, African Americans are prone to criminal behavior..etc..etc…we all “know” these things are true, though we can never remember where we even got the idea in the first place.
Affirmative Action suffers due to the following successful myth: “Affirmative Action takes jobs away from qualified white men and gives it to minorities and women, discriminating against the white men in the process”.
Of course, this has never been the case. If a company did this it would actually be illegal, and Affirmative Action protects white men just as much as anyone else. If the United States becomes a nation of Hispanics and African Americans white men would be just as entitled to Affirmative Action if they are being kept out of jobs in disproportionate numbers.
Affirmative Action serves to counter apparent racism through the promotion of qualified individuals. If a white man and a black man both applied for the same job and were equally qualified for the job, the black man would be hired. This is especially true if the local labor force is comprised of 80% black men but only 10% of the employees of the company are black.
The thing is, and here comes the kicker, Affirmative Action policies are rather difficult to implement. Our law is specifically designed to give the benefit of the doubt to the accused, innocent until proven guilty. The law errs on the side of caution in any lawsuits against companies and institutions. It is rather difficult to prove a company is discriminating against a certain race, color, creed, sexual orientation, or gender. This keeps frivolous lawsuits that many conservatives are terrified of from occurring or being even remotely successful.
The rational for Affirmative Action, the moral argument, is well known and well-despised. Countering the pervasive racism today and trying to rectify the extreme racism from the last few centuries. Most whites complain (and I am white, by the way) that “I wasn’t here so it’s not my fault and not my responsibility”. Now, my family got here in the 1930s-1950s, from Italy. So, while at least my father’s side of the family isn’t responsible for slavery there was still pervasive racism and segregation all the way up until the early 1980s.
Also, you must understand that white Americans have been given every privilege and opportunity, surely more than minorities (including African Americans) for a couple hundred years. Every white man (and to a certain extent, white women) has benefited from past and current racism. Our nation was built on the backs of slaves and, after the civil war, on cheap black labor. Of course, we did and still benefit from cheap Hispanic labor; having them do the jobs (for poverty wages) that most white Americans don’t want to do.
White men and women are better off, statistically, than black and Hispanic men and women. This stems from a history of using them to advance our prosperity, from generations of services and privileges that has helped raise most white Americans out of poverty. African Americans and Hispanics, however, continue to lag behind.
Many white Americans who are poor, or lower middle class like to say that they don’t benefit from these privileges. Of course, that simply isn’t true. An African American in their situation would be worse off, due largely to racism and segregation. Poor white men and women have many more opportunities to raise themselves out of poverty than do the average poor black man or woman. (Which is why social mobility for whites is much higher and more positive than for blacks.)
Interestingly enough, poor whites that live in predominately poor black areas would receive benefits from affirmative action as well. As money pours into these communities to help out the disadvantaged minorities that money will spill over, in the form of jobs and customers, to the white men in the area. Besides, enfranchising a group of people increases the resources of those in that community with ideas that will help every single American. Within the black community, the latino community, and women we may find someone with the potential to cure cancer, create a product or service that will make our lives easier or safer, become a politician that will lead their city, county, state, or our nation to a better future.
We have little to lose from this program, and so much to gain. Perhaps those of you who think otherwise ought to do abit more research from unbiased sources (Such as the American Psychological Association) before you spout your rhetoric any longer.