Although proponents of affirmative action claim it is a remedy for the effects of past discrimination, all it does is promote reverse discrimination and demoralize blacks and minorities. I believe that affirmative action amounts to reverse discrimination. People who support it believe that it levels the playing field and helps disadvantaged people.
Supporters of affirmative action acknowledge that while affirmative action is extreme, so is the problem that needs to be solved. Proponents say that the playing field is so tilted in favor of white people that affirmative action is necessary. The major way that it is tilted is that the skills necessary for success are nurtured by cultural institutions that minorities and disadvantaged people are excluded. Another thing that tilts the field is the SAT. They say the SAT measures skills and knowledge learned from a certain educational background; a background that not all people have. They would claim it measures cultural advantage.
Lord Dahrendorf Deutsch: Ralf Dahrendorf 2003 Sven...
Affirmative Action Pricing
Affirmative actionAnother reason that affirmative action is needed is that, given a black man and a white man of equal economic status, studies show the black man would lead a significantly lesser life. To all those that say that affirmative action disenfranchises white males, proponents say that affirmative action is designed to help minorities and women and within that sense, not as a result of prejudice, some white males get rejected even if they are qualified. So overall, proponents of affirmative action say that it solves more problems than it causes and is necessary do help disadvantaged people.
While affirmative action has all the good intentions it needs, it tries to jump over the problem and get straight to the goal. As Shelby Steele says, ÃÂit (affirmative action) leaps over the hard business of developing a formerly oppressed people to the point where they can...