barriomulas.com - Has Affirmative Action Outlived Its Usefulness?

(From a recent school assignment)

YES, as argued in the classroom test by Curtis Crawford. As a minority myself I must say that I believe that affirmative action is counter productive. Not only, in theory, does it perpetuate discrimination (now against non-Blacks), but, as Crawford notes, has "developed into programs conferring special treatment based on race". Racial preference, be it for White or Black employees, is wrong no matter how one looks at it. Knowing that one has that extra "cushion" provided by Affirmative Action could cause one to be lax during their competitive process of employment searching.

Affirmative Action laws are an intrusive mechanism used by the State to obligate private enterprise and public agencies to degrade the employee's overall qualifications as secondary. "It's not fair," my brother-and-law told me after applying for a law enforcement position. "I performed much better than a fellow Black applicant in the qualification runs, but he was picked because the standards for Blacks were lowered in order to fill up a government-imposed quota". I do not feel so comfortable knowing that my police officer, doctor, or trust fund accountant was chosen because of his race and not his credentials. This special treatment "has nothing to do with the applicant's ability or need".

It is true that if one were to scrap Affirmative Action that they would see an under-representation of Black and minorities. Widespread racial preference is a thing of the past and most of this under-representation could be attributed to education. It's a truth that poverty can perpetuate itself by limiting options the higher education of its affected families. One report shows that two thirds of families earning $25,000 have youth who apply for college, while the rate for high income families is at 91%. But if education is the problem, then should we not be pushing for universal education - where Blacks can attend any university that they please without worrying about financial constraints - instead of overlooking the issue? In fact, the education income gap is large than that between Whites and Blacks. A high school graduate will earn only 57% of the income of a college graduate while a high school drop out earns only 42% of a college graduate's income. A high school drop out earns only 19% of the salary of a person with a graduate's degree. A Black family, on the other hand, earns 58% of the income of a White family.

Statistics also show that only 34% of management positions are held by women. Members of other races such as Indians, Arabs, and Native Americans can also make claims to unequal opportunities. The elderly, disabled, and quite possibly even the gay and lesbian community could also make claims for Affirmative Action rights. If all of the above groups were to be given the same Affirmative Action benefits as Blacks, labor regulations would be a quilt of complicated safety nets. The results would be an unfavorable business environment and a continuation of racial divisions.

Many employers or public entities have simplified the process of racial quotas in order to avoid such a scene. Some school districts, for example, simply classify their students as either "Black" or "White" in an effort to simplify their completion of government anti-segregation quotas. I recall during my high school years, teachers on the first day of class going the roll call, with each student responding with their name and race. In one instance, a Latino friend of mine was labeled as "Black" while his sister was labeled as "White", in apparent ignorance towards the diversity in skin shades present in the Latino people. Ironically, Affirmative Action regulations applied to my friend but not his sister.

The Federal Government has enacted the Fair Housing Act with much success. This law prevents housing providers to discriminate against persons for whatever reason. Such actions seem much more efficient, business-friendly, efficient, and fair than Affirmative Action laws. Imagine if landlords were obligated to rent out their apartments to clients according to their race, instead of their ability to pay rent. Beefing up the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's role and facilitating the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) in a similar fashion is a much more viable route current Affirmative Action initiatives.