Thoughts On Affirmative Action. I Need Your Help!

I am having to write a paper on this topic for my class. I need some thoughts from my fellow DUers on this matter. Who is for affirmative action and who is against it?

I really need the ideas for my paper and there is nobody I would appreciate ideas from more than DUers.

Thanks!

What grade are you in?
What class is this for?
And what is the main topic? Is it "who is against AA and who is for it?"

11th Grade
English
Affirmative Action- Yes

important.

Basic positions:

Affirmative Action exists because our society does not provide opportunities equitably to all citizens. There are many obstacles that many Americans face, generally based upon the following: race, religion, gender, color, nationality -- and later Disability. (Those are the categories for Equal Employment Opportunity.) Those obstacles are the result of prejudices from the decision makers for college & job screenings/promotions etc. And even though prejudices against blacks and women were the most rampant and publicized, AA does not apply to just them. It is also used by colleges to make sure that they get a fair representation of rural students -- which generally translates to white male.

And how are minorities excluded? It starts with innocuous social networkings that are so ingrained in our society that we don't even blink when it happens. Some have come to call it Affirmative Access. In a whites vs. minority argument, the minority group would point to the social networks that whites form in country clubs, business organizations, trade organizations, and in colleges. Those networks are not only formed to help their own frog-leap in business, but also serves to exclude minorites. How? If those groups are also prejudice to people of color or race, therein lies the crime. In time, you have minority members excluded from decisions that they need for financial success. Not only that, but the fact they are not in the higher socio-economic levels, perpetuates prejudices against them.

It's a cycle. Whites don't see how the decisions they make when they create those networks are part of the problem. It's their Affirmative Access which creates the reason for Affirmative Action.

That's the argument for Affirmative Action.

The argument against it has two stories. The first is the public face, or the story that those against Affirmative Action will want the public to hear. They claim that Affirmative Action is not merit based and that only the best for the job should get the jobs regardless of race, color, gender, religion etc. The second story is not so nice. If you infiltrate their circles, whites will confide in you that they believe minorities are inferior, lazy and not deserving of the extra treatment. Thus, they will confirm the very prejudices that cause the inequities.

What I haven't mentioned is perhaps the best use for AA, which is access to college opportunities, despite lower scores. The grounds for this is that less financial success means less educational opportunities at a younger age. Less trips to the science center, less trips to cultural plays and fewer parents who are themselves educated enough to help the kids with their homework. So, prejudice is at the helm of the inequities in our society, It keeps people from experiences they need to be competitive for college and job opportunites.

Frankly, there are only two reasons why a country would even expend the time to make things equitable. The fact that equality is a cornerstone of our Constitution is irrelevant since we've seen how quickly the right-wingers are to shred the Constitution when it serves their purpose. The two main reasons why a country would even bother to break the prejudicial social networks is because no race or group would ever accept being trampled on forever and civil rioting would take place, much like it did in France. And because it is in our national security interest that Americns have good race relations because someday they may find themselves in tight barracks, defending this country against a common enemy. And, the fact that a black soldier fragged a tent of military officers at the beginning of Bush II's Iraq war suggests that things are deteriorating. To my knowledge, that wasn't done based on race, even in Vietnam.

That's important.

Affirmative action differs somewhat in its two forms: college admission and employment.
With the exception of some large companies who recruit on college campuses, most employees aren't employed as part of a relatively large "class" like they are in colleges. Colleges may be interested in affirmative action for a couple of reasons. The first is the interst of equally the playing field. The other reason is that they may feel that it is part of their mission to bring together a class with a lot of diversity so that students will be exposed to other types of people as part of their education. These classes may be less white than if the class was decided merely on the basis of test scores and grades, but no one will argue that whites are being excluded. At some selective colleges, there are many qualified candidates and applicants may be chosen for a wide variety of factors apart from test scores and grades anyway. Most students with high test scores and grades will get into a good college even if they are denied admission to their first choice college.
Affirmative action for employment is different in that there are usually relatively few people hired at any given time. With the exception of some fields, there are usually many more qualified applicants than positions for good jobs. A great many number of jobs are filled by networking, a different type of affirmative action which excludes not only minorities but also people from lower class backgrounds even if they have recently obtained a degree. Smaller companies may continue to practice discrimination without being detected if they hire relatively few people and are not in an area where many minorities would apply anyway. Having good college grades, pertainent experience, and other credentials does not guarentee anyone a good job. Employers have the right to not hire you for any reason. That reason might really be because they don't think that you, as a woman, can do a "man's job" or think that you as a black person might not be as hard of a worker. Affirmative action discourages discrimination.
I am in favor of affirmative action for education and employment for these reasons. Being in the workplace has given me the knowledge that discrimination, both through exclusive networks and prejudice, continues and needs to be corrected.

I have now finished my paper and included some of the outstanding ideas that were posted in this thread. I decided to base my paper on the against argument. I did this because I felt pretty sure that my teacher would fall in this same category and I tended to lean this way myself.

As for her politics: She is a 30-something year old Catholic who voted for John Kerry. Way to go teach!

You owe me since I answered yours. I'm really curious about a couple:

(1) How did you incorporate ideas from this thread into your argument, when all but one paragraph was in favor of AA?

(2) How does someone consider themselves a devout Christian who would not make others second class citizens and not support AA? Does one have to be blind to racism to rationalize it?

I'm seriously curious about this, since I really think it's impossible to consider oneself a Christian and not believe in AA or in social programs that help the poor.

and Caucasian(just a guess!). The real surprise would have been favoring AA!

I detected a desire for a grade from this poster, not a search for answers.

"Let's see-- 11th grade, Alabama(?),

...and Caucasian(just a guess!)."

And we know how ALL "those people" are.

I am against it as of present time. People should be hired because of their abilities not their race/gender. At one point it may have helped but to continue using it would be a crutch, rather is should be abolished at least for a certain amount of time to see how things transgress.

Think that should be abolished?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_IX