Affirmative action
Words like equality, inequality, discrimination, and now reverse discrimination have become words that have many emotions and reactions attached to them. It can be said that these words have such strong connotations because of this country's past history of racism and oppression. Minorities in the United States have suffered hundreds of years of inequalities and unwarranted prejudices. The debate of what is the best way to offer reparations to those who have been treated as second class citizens. One such approach to reimbursement is a program called affirmative action. The program can be defined as "if a government or an organization takes affirmative action, it gives preference to women, black people, or other groups which are often treated unfairly, when it is choosing people for a job" (Cambridge Dictionary). The benefits of this plan are very debatable, and highly contested. Scholars and policy makers have struggled to develop assumptions on if affirmative action is the best plan to put an end to the racial discrimination. Those in favor of the program feel that by allowing minority preferences it is repaying those who have suffered inequality, as well as allowing a person an opportunity for success when they may not have n
Some question the equality of the programs designed to give preferential treatment. I feel that there should be no affirmative action, and everything should be based on who deserves it the most. Main Issues It is a difficult to determine what the most competent arguments for or against affirmative action should be. For example, when he gave his personal encounter of affirmative action, which I stated earlier, as well as, when he compared the claim of reverse racism to the twisting and rewriting of history. I believe also that by singling out a specific group of persons into a preferential subgroup only advances the same discrimination and negative stereotypes that we are attempting to move away from. He begins his essay with a quote comparison with President Bush. The people who are opposed to affirmative action feel that it is reverse discrimination in which a majority group is biased against. One could argue that I am taking the easy way out by eliminating the whole program and that man is most likely going to have prejudices. It happens that the second student is a minority, and due to affirmative action the minority was allowed special entrance. I may be naive in my view, but I think that with no racial or gender preferences it will show to people that everyone has an equal chance to get what they want, and this feeling of competition will drive people to work harder. For example there are many instances in which a student has a better GPA and more extra curricular activities, and is denied admission to a university. This is weak because an argument against this appears quickly, by stating that by allowing easier admission to higher education or a chance to be a company executive gives a minority the opportunities to develop his person, character, and bring new views to his family. Author, Stanley Fish (who is in favor of affirmative action programs), bases his essay on the reasoning that the racial preferences involved with affirmative action are not reverse discrimination, but rather are retribution to the past history of oppression that the minorities suffered, specifically the African Americans. It would seem that if you changed it all to fit one group, it wouldn't fit for another group. It is this feeling that many have, is what makes me question the benefits of affirmative action.
Common topics in this essay:
Shelby Steele,
African Americans,
Cambridge Dictionary,
Stanley Fish,
Minorities United,
President Bush,
affirmative action,
,
Main Issues,
stanley fish,
shelby steele,
reverse discrimination,
preferential treatment,
Weak Arguments,
argument affirmative action,
fish favor,
steele feels,
favor program,
feels mechanisms,
oppression minorities,
author stanley fish,
treated class citizens,
|
Acceptance Essays
