Affirmative Action: Allowable Discrimination - Essay Example

Nowadays, it is illogical to automatically reward unqualified people just because of their minority status and to sacrifice the same rights of qualified majorities when it comes to opportunities. It is a clear fact that when the government prohibits some discrimination, it also sanctions other forms of discrimination. When an institution discriminates against a certain race for the sake of bettering the outcome of the other group, prejudice clearly occurs.  Affirmative action is the license given by the government for active discrimination of one person over the other, a double standard that is unacceptable and dangerous.

In April of 2009, a lawsuit, Frank Ricci, et al. v. John Destefano, et al., was filed by 20 firefighters, 19 of which were white and one is Hispanic against the city of New Haven, Connecticut (Supreme Court of the United States). They argued that the city discriminated against them with regards to positions they are aiming for by invalidating the test results. The Legal Information Institute furthered that these firefighters passed the test with high scores and validated them for advancement to management and for promotions. The city of New Haven defended that the invalidation of the test results was because none of the Black firefighters who passed the exam had reached the score needed to be considered for a position. The officials argued that they feared a lawsuit from a protected minority because of the result of the test. The plaintiffs claimed that they were denied the promotions due to their race, a form of racial discrimination.

Through the law of the Affirmative action, the court ruled that the firefighters had grounds and ordered New Haven to reinstate the examination results, promote 14 of the 20 firefighters, and pay a hefty sum of money to the plaintiffs and their lawyer. The arguments regarding affirmative action seem to have a long way to go but this is not a reason to go racist. Our society should not conclude that one person’s gain is another’s loss. Our society must learn diversity.