“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Martin Luther King spoke these words in 1963, and they still resonate today. Affirmative action programs were established to create this very type of equality, but have they brought us closer to Dr. King’s dream or hindered it?
Please select the category that most closely reflects your concern about this content,
so that we can review it and determine whether it violates Civility 101 or isn't
appropriate for some other reason.
Abusing this feature is also a violation of Civility 101.
Explanation:
Biweekly updates on new debates and experts
Please check your email to confirm your subscription.
© 2008 Opposing Views, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Opposing Views, Inc. is not responsible for the content posted on this website. Please view full disclaimer under Terms
Equal Opportunity for All
- From Jennifer Gratz
By Jennifer Gratz - American Civil Rights Institute
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.
Affirmative action TAKES AWAY equal opportunity.
Honestly, my take on affirmative action is that it often takes away jobs from the better suited person. In a nation where the white, middle-aged, protestant man has now become the person most often discriminated against, affirmative action is a step in the wrong direction. The person best suited for a job should always be the person to whom it is granted, regardless of race, gender, sexual preference, etc. A company should not be required to employ a certain amount of a certain type of person. I also, though, believe in the right of a SMALL BUSINESS OWNER to hire or not hire a person based on whatever they so choose to. It may not do their business good, but they own the business, they should have the right. Not the same goes, though, for large corporations. If a person honestly feels they are being denied a job at some corporation because of race, gender, etc. they should have the right to speak up about it. but it should no longer be a way for people of a certain ethnicity or whatever to be granted a job, no questions asked.
- Brady
November 10, 2008 11:37PM
Reply to this Recommend (0)
Side: Yes
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.
Yep, and that would be the case with athletics as well
I sure would've liked affirmative action to be on my side if I decided to join a basketball team and not show up for practices. No doubt in my mind that I would feel a sense of pride knowing that people who actually had the skill lost their opportunity to me.
- F2XL
November 15, 2008 9:59PM
Reply to this Recommend (0)
Side: Yes
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.
We need equality, not favoritism.
I agree entirely. While the minority "hiring quota" may have served its purpose fifty years ago there is no need for it now. And I have lost track of how many of my friends have lost a job to a minority, not because they were better qualified, but because the company had not filled their quota. College minority student quotas do the same thing.
There are so many double standards as far as race goes. Such as the race specific scholarships to colleges. Instead of those we need more scholarships for underprivlaged children in general. If a white group made a whites only scholarship there would be cries of racism . This has already happened when one man made a very low benefit (Less than $50 I believe) white scholarship and the resulting uproar was nothing short of astronomical.
And the same goes for things like "Miss black America" and the Black Entertainment network.
I want my daughter to grow up in a world where she has an equal chance no matter what she does. Isn't that what black people fought so hard for in the first place?
- Songbird21
September 15, 2009 10:16PM
Reply to this Recommend (0)
Side: Yes
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.