Affirmative Action in America Today

Three States are considering stopping Affirmative Action. Should this be done on a national level? Some believe it is one of the most discriminatory laws in the nation and reverse racism. What does that say to the person who is more qualified and loses a nice position due to percentages? What does it say to a contractor who loses contracts to minority contractors?

So, are we playing on a level playing field at this time? When AA first became a part of system, you have to admit that the field was not level by any stretch of the imagination. Should we have just let it be that way?

If you follow the onset of AA you will see that on a lot of occasions federal monies were paid to certain contractors who would not hire minorities at all. Even though minority tax dollars were being paid and used. So should not minorities also benefit from the employment opportunity made available by these tax dollars? Seems simple to me but there were some who did not see it that way. So there you have AA.

Today, I don't think AA is that prevalent and can be phased out. In the private sector I believe everyone earned their jobs on their own merits. Perhaps there is a difference within the federal, state, and local governments. I don't know. Yet I will say that jobs where taxpayer dollars are used, there should be an equal representation of the taxpayer.

They had a big hoorah at one point over the hiring of firemen and the role of AA within the practice of hiring. Now tell me, in a city such as Cleveland with such a diverse citizenship, are you going to tell me that no Blacks qualify for that position? With all the Black veterans within the city you are going to tell me that none are good enough to man a fire hose? This was the big issue with AA if you remember. It was within the fire department, police department, and municipal agencies. And again, if a company receives government contracts which are financed through taxpayer money, then the taxpayers should be equally represented. Can we agree on that very fair assertion and if not, why not?

This should not be mandated or a case of law, it should just be the right thing to do. So for AA to be done away with, which I believe it should be, then that is to say that fairness takes its place. Is that the case today? If so, then lets replace AA with this system of fairness and equality.

I will speak primarily from an historical standpoint. Hopefully this is not present today and from the corporate environment, I don't see it.. Like I said though, I don't know about government entities.

I will voice it like this; if you have an organization with 500 employees and you only have two minorities in that workforce, and they both are janitorial, something is wrong. That is saying that there are no qualified applicants that are minorities? We all know that is not truthful. Or we should know it since we have known men and women who fit the criteria.

So, what should be done about that situation? Especially if this organization has government contracts which are financed by the American taxpayer? Minorities pay taxes you know? So shouldn't they and their families benefit from this employment as well?

Do you really believe that there are no qualified minority applicants for jobs within the municipal departments out of all those millions of minority applicants? If you do feel that way, you do disservice to all the minorities who live there that happen to be veterans and served with honor. So if some strings have to be pulled to make sure these men and women get a fair shake, then so be it.

It isn't personal. These men and women just want to be in the game. They want a good job so they can provide for their families. Also, perhaps they just want the same opportunity to serve their communities as do their White counterparts. If they are being denied that opportunity, then what do you believe should be done? Nothing?

I know some will say;

"Yes Nothing since they have the same opportunity as all those before them had Education and hard work as many minorities have done before them. All AA does is encourage slackers and dishearten thoes that have worked hard and qualified then have been rejected because of the color of THIER skin"

I will answer this by stating, you seem to keep forgetting that at one time in our great country there were specific laws made and enforced to keep a specific people subservient and second class.

Remember that the educational aspect had to be fought for and people bled so that it could happen. Brown vs The Board of Education came to light in 1954. I know to a lot of you that was a lifetime ago. Well at that time I was living in Texas and a product of the segregated school system.

When Brown was passed that did not mean that things immediately turned around and equality flourished throughout the land. Even today there is a disparity in certain school systems within this country. This is a fact and no fault of the child having to go through a flawed system. Something has to be done to give these kids, who are victims in their own right, an equal chance.

Like I have stated, look at the reasoning for the creation of AA. Like a lot of programs, it was formed out of necessity when it was needed. Is it needed today? I personally don't believe so but one must judge for one selve.

I hear some use the reasoning that, "Years ago you were chosen by your peers who wanted to win games. So if you weren't picked it meant you had to practice more and prepare yourself for the real competitive world where you would be dealing with your peers. Then when you did make the team, the goal was to not be picked last. Always the incentive to try harder. That's what made America great. Something that's sorely missing today."

Since we are speaking of race and the incentive to win; There were players such as Satchell Page who had a good game yet was not picked. Some would say he was better than most, yet he was not picked. And the reasoning for this was what? Jackie Robinson had to fight to be picked and after being picked, he suffered death threats to him and his family just for being picked. Oh, and his game was above reproach. So you see at one time, that scenario did not stand.

I hear from my White counterparts that we should just get over it because it happened so long ago. Sometimes we have reminders. Like to this very day when you have 15 to 20% of our fellow Americans saying that they would not vote for a Black man for no other reason than the color of his skin.

15 to 20%? Probably a lot less than it once was, I grant you that. But, what sense does that make? Not saying that Obama is the right man for the job, but what these people say is; it would not matter if he was. He is Black and that would seal his fate in their minds. Well there is no AA for POTUS. And there is no way to overcome those who feel as they do.

Speaking of Obama who states that he is in favor of AA remaining a part of our laws. I don't know if he is doing himself any justice with this opinion. So many Whites see it as a sign of reverse discrimination. So, is it time to repeal all laws regarding equality and justice? For at least 15 to 20% of Americans, the answer is a diffident no if we are to believe them. So out of the 80% left is that enough to say all the ills of inequality can be dealt with? I think so if good people stand up against injustice.

One of my favorite quotes states; "Evil is allowed to prosper when good men do nothing." So we who consider ourselves good men have work to do don't we?

I have also heard it said that, "Equality comes from having zero prejudice, not from replacing one prejudice with an opposing one". So, do you believe that Jim Crow and the segregation laws would have just vanished without any action? People would have just seen the error of their ways and changed?

Look at the last place a system of segregation should exist, the military. It took many wars and a lot of shed blood for them to see the error of their ways. Not until 1950 did they see that it was no dishonor to die beside a Black man and vice versa.

Speaking of the military, I have wondered all these years regarding their reasoning for segregation during war. Do you have a clue? There are many things which gives one pause for thought don't you think? Perhaps some more so than others.

As we talk about AA there is a stigma attached to successful Blacks. When some see a successful Black they automatically think his/her success is due in some way to AA. Very few realize that there are currently more degreed black people in the United States than at any other time in our history

When we speak of AA let's take a look at our President. Bush was a Yale legacy admission - his father and grandfather both attended the school and the Bush family were also financial contributors to the school. His college boards were insufficient for admission, and even insufficient for the normal legacy path. But the financial stuff pushed him over the hump. So that is to say that President Bush got preferential treatment to achieve what he has.

Granted, there has been preferential treatment based on race, gender, handicap, military service, etc. when people who have equal qualifications have competed for admission, hiring, etc. Points based on those things outlined above are added after a person has demonstrated that they are qualified to perform in a given position. There are no doubt exceptions to that, but it isn't how Affirmative Action was designed to work. Some would say that people from all those groups are inherently inferior, and that is why they need to have scores altered to make them eligible.

Lets look at the military and it recruitment practices. Are they not making allowances for a lot of new recruits? Criminal records accepted...lower educational standards, etc. How is this any different? Is this not a form of Affirmative Action? It just happens to benefit our government in their agenda.

Again, AA benefits so many groups other than Blacks. The disabled and women benefit more so than any other group. Granted, Black women benefit greatly, but Blacks as a whole? The numbers are not there as much as one would believe. Having experienced higher education, I am not aware of any added points placed on any of my tests. I worked my butt off to get my grades and didn't ever have an 80 turned into a 90 because I'm Black.

Someone asked why they inquire about your race on the college application. Unless you have not done any paperwork in a long time, they ask that question on all most every form one fills out these days. Any credit application, any survey one takes, passport applications, drivers license, admittance to wholesale club memberships, etc. Good try but that is just the norm in our society. Also every form I have filled out lately wants to know your level of education. SOme actually believe all of these questions in some way benefit a specific group.

I have also heard this argument from time to time, "Look at it this way - let's suppose we pass a law tomorrow giving preferential hiring (and educational) breaks to red-headed, green-eyed people. We keep this policy for decades. Now, if thirty years from now you run into a red-headed, green-eyed person who is a senior VP at your company, what are you going to think? No matter how smart or seemingly-qualified that person is, you will have this tiny, niggling doubt that he doesn't truly deserve to be where he is and is only where he is because of that law."

My answer to that is, If a person is smart and qualified, why should you wonder if he deserves to be where he is? Colin Powell admits he benefited from AA. He won the war he was charged with. Some of his contemporaries didn't do so well and they had that ultimate AA - being White in America. I mentioned Colin Powell who admitted being assisted by AA., and then once he was given the opportunity, he then proved himself. Today many think of him as a viable leader should he pursue it.

And I have stated a number of times that I believe AA's time has passed. I believe that today companies just want qualified people to get the job done. They realize that there are many to choose from in all categories and cultures. As I said, at one time in history AA gave a chance to those who otherwise would not have had a chance. Today I believe, at least I hope, that we all have an equal chance to succeed or fail on our own merits.

But please, before you only paint Blacks with the AA brush, do some research and find out exactly who has benefited more from this program and it out shoots such as The Americans With Disabilities Act. Right now everyone seems to be just stigmatizing Blacks with the program. We have only been a part of this program and not the main recipient.

A few Blacks would say, "No, you White guys (or lighter skinned Blacks) got where you are because of Affirmative Action. You got preferential treatment because of the institutionalized entitlement based upon skin color". Now you've got a system of institutionalized racism that's been in play since the beginning of the country. It's about power and power is never relinquished without a struggle. Yet you want every citizen to have an equal chance including the ones who have had intense discrimination because their physical characteristics made it harder for them to assimilate. They can't just change their names or get a nose job or lose their accent.

Many of us ask, "How do you fix it?" And you have some who answer, "One way you DON'T fix it is by instituting a system that's just as biased. You DO fix it by going after any system still adhering to the old ways and biases. You fix it by trying your level best to make the system color-blind, to make it merit-based. All those past ills you talk about were WRONG. But instituting a reverse of the old prejudices is just going to keep the same barriers up."

I really feel that if not for the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act, Blacks and women could still not have the vote. Some of those old school bigots did not go easily into the new world. Some continue to say that this is ancient history yet fail to remember that blood was shed to end a lot of what went on. "Forget the blood spilled and get over it?."

Okay, AA has served its purpose as far as I can see and has been all but dismissed in a lot of instances. So some people benefited from it. Some proved themselves worthy and some didn't. Are you guys just going to focus on the ones who didn't? And just how do you know who those are? You just take for granted that it was all of them? That's easy! Can you just give credit where credit is due or do you think no credit is deserving?

Whether one likes AA or not, it is a source of racial conflict in today's America. The man who could be our next President is in favor of maintaining AA, but without the quotas and such. His declaration of this in my opinion further separates him from some Americans and adds to the 20% who state they would never vote for a Black man. Where do you stand on this subject which is a division within America?