Affirmative Action: More Harm Than Good?

Affirmative Action is a controversial measure that some people believe is creating injustices in its pursuit to correct them.

As a person of mixed race (my father is black, my mother is white) I believe that Affirmative Action is a flawed system to correct an unfortunate past, but is the most workable system we have today.

Affirmative Action - More Injustice?

Some people say that because of Affirmative Action, minorities, often less qualified on paper, are selected for jobs, entrance to college, etc., over technically more qualified non-minorities, which constitutes an injustice in and of itself.

I say it's not that simple.

Unfortunately, there's no way to go back and individually locate all of the blacks that were discriminated against, excluded from higher education and meaningful work because of the color of their skin, and to then restore to those people, and their descendants, exactly what was lost.

Affirmative Action attempts to do this on a blanket basis - give blacks today opportunities their ancestors were likely denied years ago. This, in my eyes, is a form of justice.

Affirmative Action - Discrimination Against Whites?

Some people rail against Affirmative Action because they say it discriminates against whites and other races, and in essence does the very thing it is trying to correct.

This is, again, a complex issue. The truth is, there are probably many whites who were given advantages based on the color of their skin and not actual merit, while blacks were denied opportunities for the same reason.

Just as there is no way to individually measure and make up for the disadvantages blacks were dealt, there is no way to assess and correct for the advantages whites enjoyed.

So in essence, Affirmative Action attempts to do on a crude, general basis what we can't do on an individual one - "level the playing field."

Affirmative Action - An Insult to Blacks?

Some believe that Affirmative Action is insulting to those who are on the receiving end, as if it indicates the person is not capable of getting the job, the admission to college, or whatever it is they're seeking, on their own. I disagree.

If Affirmative Action assumed minorities were stupid, then it would be insulting. But it doesn't. It doesn't imply minorities can't get jobs and admission to schools on their own. In fact, anyone benefitting from Affirmative Action must have relevant and valid job or educational qualifications.

It does acknowledge that a legacy of discimination may have placed that minority, otherwise totally capable, in non-ideal circumstances, so that on paper they may not stack up equally against a non-minority, when they are in fact just as capable.

Personally...

I don't know if or how I've benefitted from Affirmative Action, but I seldom think about it. I enjoyed school, worked hard, and received excellent grades and top scores on standardized tests on my own merit. I have no idea if the color of my skin helped me to get into a competitive private school or an Ivy League college, and frankly I don't care, because I know I belonged there just as much as anyone else.

I think it's unfortunate that race and skin color ever became such a divisive issue in our society. I think we are all individuals more diverse or unique than any box on a questionnaire could ever hope to reflect, and It's dismaying that something like Affirmative Action would ever be needed to correct the mistakes of yesterday.

But I think it is needed. It's not ideal, but it's better than doing nothing to correct past injustices which still have lingering effects today.

Still, while I'm an advocate of Affirmative Action, I'm also an advocate of personal responsibility. I think anyone who's ever accomplished anything in their lives did so because of imagination, perseverance, dream and drive. Affirmative Action doesn't exist to provide that will to people. It can't.

But if it can be that extra push or that bit of help in a world that hasn't offered much, then I'm glad it exists in some form. As it stands, I think it does more good than harm.