Affirmative Action

1. Affirmative action is an issue that has been at the forefront of political controversy almost since it’s conception. The idea of awarding minorities merit based solely on the color of their skin seems ludicrous to some and extremely necessary to others. The real debate involving affirmative action belongs in the ethical problems that arise. The main issues deal with types of affirmative action, implementation, and uses. They mainly are; when is affirmative action necessary (if ever), and how and for whom should affirmative action be used.

2. There are two main ideas for the justification of affirmative action. Past directed, this idea is based on compensation for wrongs suffered by members of a group. This is based on awarding someone damages for harms he or she has suffered. Future-directed, these are utilitarian types of reasons directed toward bringing about good consequences, such as a society with less prejudice and discrimination and inequality; or toward decreasing the residual effects of a history of discrimination, such as slavery (Class Handout).

While supporters of affirmative action may support both ideas of justification, they must accept at least one. In dealing with past-directed justification it makes sense that someone should be awarded for wrongs that were done to themselves or their families. This justification could be seen as originating from the use of slavery, by white males, in the late 17 through mid 1800’s. Affirmative action is a device used to help repay African American people the dues that are owed to them because of their harsh treatment in the past. Also stemming from slavery is the societal notion that white men are superior to those of other skin color and also gender. Affirmative action helps to level the playing field and keep bias to a minimum. This is necessary as there are still many people that would unfairly discriminate against disadvantaged minority groups, such as African Americans, Latino’s, and Women.

There are also different types of affirmative action that should be considered. One important distinction is between strong and weak affirmative action. Strong affirmative action states that a member of a disadvantaged minority group can “gain points” in the job selection process and surpass white males for a job (CN). Weak affirmative action states that affirmative action can only be used as a tiebreaker in deciding who should get a job (CN). This helps to keep the see saw fall evenly both ways, thus elevating the number of disadvantaged minority groups in the work place. By supporting affirmative action, our society has become more open to racial and gender equality, and will continue to do so in the future.

3. There are many reasons to protest affirmative action. First to make a statement that people on both sides of the debate can agree with. Discrimination is wrong. Having said that one can also argue that while affirmative action appears to help disadvantaged minority groups, in return it discriminates against white males. This is called reverse discrimination. If affirmative action is designed to stop discrimination, then should it not also stop reverse discrimination? If discrimination is wrong, and affirmative action produces reverse discrimination, then