Affirmative action: the good, the bad and the ugly
Based on the following article:
What is affirmative action? According to Oxford Languages: “(in the context of the allocation of resources or employment) the practice or policy of favoring individuals belonging to groups known to have been discriminated against previously”.
In her article, Janice Gassam Asare describes how the supreme court is most likely ending affirmative action in universities. She says that it would “negatively impact racial diversity” and that Black and Hispanic students would be impacted the most. She ends the article by mentioning the benefits of diverse environments, which are mainly favoring creativity, innovation and even financial returns.
Although both Janice and the policy seem to be of goodwill, I don’t agree with them.
Two wrongs don’t make a right. Fighting past discrimination with modern
discrimination (by favoring certain individuals) is not a solution. We don’t
have to pay for our ancestor’s mistakes.
Imagine any sports where affirmative action is applied. Basketball: 50%
blacks and whites. You would have an army of white midgets trying to grab the
ball from black giants. Now that I think of it, that would make a great show!
Do you want the plane that you are boarding to be built by the best
group of engineers on the planet? Or by the most diverse group of engineers?
My point is, in a world full of crisis, we need the best people for
everything, regardless of their identity. Affirmative action is not allowing
that. If my silly examples were not sufficient to convince you of its issues,
then simply look at Janice’s own article:
“In an ironic
and interesting twist of fate, it’s likely that the Supreme Court will end
affirmative action in higher education despite its makeup—four women, two
African Americans and a Latina–as the most diverse in history.”
Even the “diverse” Supreme Court agrees that affirmative action is a bad
thing. We need to stop looking at our differences, but rather at every
individual’s strength.
Do you think that affirmative action is a positive force for society?
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