White Americans' opposition to affirmative action - Term Paper Example

?White Americans' opposition to affirmative action: Group interest and the harm to beneficiaries objection Laurie T. O'Brien'*, Donna Garcia^ Christian S. Crandall and Justin Kordys Affirmative action is one of the most controversial topics that is widely debated in the modern century. The beginnings of affirmative action can be traced as far as the 1960’s. President Johnson himself proclaimed, “"[Affirmative Action] is the next and more profound stage of the battle of Civil Rights! We seek… not just equality as a right and a theory, but equality as a fact and a result…" The 1964 established the Civil Rights act which abolished discrimination in the workforce. Since the ending of WWII, minorities and women were continuously being denied of opportunities that could further enhance their growth. Affirmative action in essence means giving preferential treatment to diverse groups in society either for academic or employment purposes. These policies are targeted to combat discrimination that has plagued American societies for centuries. Without a doubt, America is referred as a “melting pot” as many individuals come from diverse backgrounds. While affirmative action is a bold attempt to atone the sins of past decades, Affirmative action needs to be eliminated since it leads to preferential treatment, lowers standards for performance, and leads to reverse discrimination. One of the main reasons why affirmative actions should be eliminated is due to the fact that it leads to preferential treatment. Imagine a scenario in which a Caucasian and a minority both apply for a high-qualification job. For the sake of the argument, the Caucasian is more qualified as he is a certified public accountant, has more job experience, and is skilled in particular software. On the other hand, a minority has lower qualifications, less qualification, and lacks in social skills. Now the dilemma the employer must face is—who deserves the position? Clearly, the Caucasian individual is well-suited and will tremendously benefit the company. However, affirmative action protocols clash against the employer’s moral choice. The employee is forced to give the position to a less qualified individual. Although this occurs in a micro-level, one cannot argue that his performance could make a huge difference in the company’s overall performance. In the modern world, the difference of small percentage in margin revenue is critical. Thus, building a strong foundation of any organizations begins with its employees. Hence, the affirmative action rule is illogical since it disregards the value of qualifications based upon a minority status. Another key reason why affirmative actions should be eliminated is because it leads to unnecessary standards of guidelines. Unquestionably, it is demeaning to “just give” positions to minorities as this speaks in a larger volume. In essence, giving preferential treatment displays the notion that minorities lack intellect and cannot achieve success through their own capabilities. Instead, they must be facilitated through legislation in order to help them reach a higher level. This outlook gives the perception that that the advancement of the minority must be given through affirmative action rather than work ethic and ability. A perfect example of how an individual can achieve success is clearly displayed by Barack Obama. Obama, an individual with mixed descent, is now the president of the United States of America through hard work, supreme intellect, and determination. Another prime example of a successful black person In the society is Oprah Winfrey. Oprah is extremely wealthy, has power and prestige due to her work ethic. One cannot assume that her success relied on her being a minority and thus gaining preferential treatment. Minorities that are willing to work hard will no doubt be rewarded for their work ethic. The enactment of the legislation continues to have adverse effects even in the modern society. The opportunities to excel in a society are endless and discrimination is dissolved overtime. In many instances, organizations are indulged in making profitable business and acknowledge that it is not ethnicity rather intellect and skills that they seek in their employees. Affirmative act legislations are difficult to remove as they are embedded in everyday aspects of society. Legislators are slow to remove any legislation since the process is time consuming, long, and difficult as government agencies have their own agendas in their mind. Corruption will continue to linger on and ruin the whole concept of a bureaucratic agency. It is almost impossible to put the same model of legislations that were in place during post WWII era in the modern society. Therefore, the preferential treatment given to minorities is a “slap on the face” as it gives a very negative outlook towards the minorities. The “icing on the cake” that proves that affirmative action leads to reverse discrimination. The whole purpose of Affirmative action is to eliminate discrimination and the inferiority complex that many minorities have to struggle with. However, affirmative action in essence discriminates against Caucasians, who do work hard for their careers. The so-called “benefits” of the affirmative action have led to inverse effects. A perfect example of this could be portrayed in the classic Supreme Court case of Bakke v University. In this particular scenario, Wayne Bakke, an individual with excellent qualifications, was not admitted to a medical university at the University of California since the university was obligated to meet a quota for minority. Bakke was puzzled; how could he be denied entry to a school when he met all the standards? Therefore, Bakke decided to challenge the case as the Supreme Court overturned the decision. This is just one of the few instances in which affirmative action legislation actually does more harm than good. The bold attempt of affirmative action reconcile the injustices of the past is illogical. The heinous acts of injustice that refused to give women and minorities the opportunity to contribute to society have no doubt left an imprint. However, this legislation cannot and will not erase the past. The key goal is to facilitate the process for minorities and women by merit-based not ethnic-based. The facilitation to help minorities and students in initiated at a young age by encouraging them that hard work and determination will yield results. In addition, investing in diverse communities through schools and workshops can further enhance the understanding of minorities. The goal is to create a society in which competition should be based upon merit and not entitlement. Propagators of affirmative action insist that diversity in college will produce a more nurturing environment. Although that may be true to a certain degree, it does not diminish the fact that a diverse classroom is derived from different opinions, not necessarily from a race context. It is wrong to assume that diverse classroom will promote more ideas since race has little to do with innovation. Some students that are not admitted based upon a merit status struggle to excel in their posts. For instance, an individual who gets accepted to systems analyst position at IBM, will continue to struggle if he does not understand the basics of management information systems. If that particular individual is not capable of handling the complicated tasks expected from him, then clearly he should not have been employed. The worst part is the fact that it has divided the country deeply in the issue as the flaws of this legislation are so deep that it gives an advantage to minorities. All these factors accumulated are clear indication that affirmative actions is not healthy for the society as it leads to preferential treatment, lower standards and leads to reverse discrimination. Capabilities are important aspect of obtaining positions on the workface, not ethnicity. It is crucial that an individual recognizes that hard work, confidence and determination will yield a better fruit in the future. As society continues to grow and progress to the future, the notions of racism and discrimination will no longer be an issue as firms understand the importance of making revenue. Affirmative action should be eliminated for the liberty and justice for all. Works Cited “Affirmative Action: Who Benefits." APA Online. 20 Mar. 2007http://www.apa.org/\ Brunner, Borgna and Haney, Elisa. "Civil Rights Movement Timeline: Milestones in the modern Civil Rights movement." Infoplease. 2006http://www.infoplease.com Justin Kordys, et al. "White Americans' opposition to affirmative action: Group interest and the harm to beneficiaries objection." British Journal of Social Psychology 49.4 (2010): 895-903. CINAHL with Full Text. EBSCO. Web. 24 Apr. 2011. Read More