Do you agree or disagree with Affirmative Action Why or Why not?
I disagree. Though it has had positive results, if our target is true equality then affirmative action wont get us there. Equality is not going to be found in concentrating so hard on who is black, who is white, and who is in between. True equality is going to be found when we finally learn not to care about race. Equality will come when people finally decide that race doesn't matter. With affirmative action race DOES matter. Race is a big deal. Race is everything. That isn't equality.
Is affirmative action a good or bad thing? why?
Affirmative Action is a ridiculous idea. How does it make any sense to say "we are righting the wrongs, removing race from being a factor, and ensuring that a man is judged on merit rather than skin color" and then say, "here's the program-- if you're black, you definately need that boost to even attempt to be on an even plane with whites." It's racist against blacks and whites-- it eliminates the idea that blacks can be intelligent without a booster seat, and it discriminates against whites who are better qualified.
Post your personal affirmative action horror stories?
In one office I worked we had to hire Bob because of his veteran's preference. When he got the job, he would call in sick stating, "I haven't been getting enough rest lately". He missed a lot of time at work and he was generally not good at his job. He spent time in court which he was excused for, but it was for assaulting women he picked up in bars. Somehow he got transferred to a security guard position.
Why do liberals think affirmative action is justified?
My family has owned thousands of acres of land since about 1840, spread through West Virginia and Ohio. Much of our economic comfort has been built on its equity, whether through revenue from the farms themselves, loans backed by that land, or more recently, oil and gas revenue from the fracking boom.In the last ten years, my family going out to only third cousins has seen upward of a million dollars in no-effort income simply because out great-great-great-grandparents bought land.Part of my educational expenses were taken against the equity on my parents' home, which was bought in part by their share of equity in the larger farms. That education, though unfinished, has presented me opportunity that I couldn't have gotten without it, and by fortune, I personally owe very little.Because my family was able to own land in 1840.We never had to worry about poll taxes or literacy taxes. Those only went away in the last century; there are Americans today that were directly denied the right to vote, to work, to own property based on their skin color.Until we can firmly say that race isn't a deciding factor in one's momentum, until there aren't racist epithets thrown freely at the first black President, or until Senate candidates don't suggest they want a front-row seat at a lynching, then we need to do something to counteract that.I personally feel that instead of race directly, educational and employment incentives should be granted based on the socioeconomic standing of one's parents and geographical neighborhood. I do think it's unjust to reward black students over white ones with the same performance at the same schools from the same income level.It would still largely benefit persons of color because they are disproportionately included in those lower economic tiers, but it wouldn't be exclusive to persons of any certain race.Because above all, affirmative action as a policy standard should seek to lift people out of a cycle in which they may be trapped, and that crosses any race barrier.