Pro-Minority Affirmative Action

I support affirmative action as a policy in the United States until racial inequality has clearly been ended. Background: The Atlantic slave trade lasted from the 16th century to the 19th century. Millions of slaves were shipped to America. A very large majority of these slaves came from Africa. They were forced to work under horrible conditions and usually earned no money at all. America became independent in 1776, and set up its government under our current Constitution in 1788. Obviously, slavery was not ended in either of those dates. Slavery remained a prominent issue throughout the 19th century. Slavery ended in the United States in 1865. They were often beaten by their owners. Slaves could often be separated from their families. There were few slaves able to rise up in society due to the oppression they faced. African-Americans weren't even granted constitutional rights until the passing of the Fourteenth Amendment. Before this, many African-Americans were legally murdered and had barely any rights at all. The oppression did not end though. After the end of Reconstruction, whites regained control of the South and proceeded to impose more oppressive laws on blacks. Laws made it very difficult for African-Americans to vote. Schools were segregated. A lot of businesses were segregated. The facilities restricted to blacks were usually inferior to those of the whites'. Violence, refusal of suffrage, and segregation continued for many years until the Civil Rights Movement. Brown v. Board was decided in 1955, ending segregation. The Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964. These two bills did a lot to make African-Americans equal, but it was clearly not enough. The oppression of the blacks had left many of them uneducated and poor. The segregated educational facilities up to 1955 were inferior, as decided by Brown v. Board. Given an inferior education, many blacks could not rise up in society on their own. Having had parents with not much education and little money put many blacks at a disadvantage. Having had freedoms taken away for many years, it was hard for many blacks to rise up in society. It was no surprise that many were in poverty during the 1950's and 1960's, when the Civil Rights Movement was in high gear. In 1961, President Kennedy had begun a policy of equal employment opportunity. President Johnson began the policy of affirmative action in 1965. This policy helped African-Americans since they could no longer be discriminated against in the workplace because of their color. Since 1961, many more African-Americans have become employed. Their poverty rates have dropped. But the work isn't over. Statistics from last month show that African-Americans are still unemployed at a 6% higher rate than whites. [1] Statistics also show that African-Americans only make $.76 to every dollar a white makes. [2] I realize that the title is pro-minority affirmative action, so I will look at Hispanics as well. They are unemployed at a 3.5% higher rate than whites. [1] They only make $.72 to every dollar a white man makes. [2] I will proceed to my argument on Hispanics later. Asians clearly don't need affirmative action. They are employed at a higher rate than whites. They also make more than whites. There are no statistics from colleges to show that they are being admitted less than any other race either. These statistics show that there is still much inequality between the races. Here are my arguments: 1. Affirmative action helps undo the effects of past wrongs, by helping African-Americans rise up in society. The effects of oppression over 300 years could take hours to discuss. The psychological and socioeconomic effects are vast. While it will be impossible to ever properly undo the past wrongs, this is a step toward it. I will concentrate on the fact that the oppression left many African-Americans uneducated and poor. This made it difficult for them to get better jobs without help. Statistics from the Census Bureau show that in 1959, the poverty rate of African-Americans was 55%. [3] The government started requiring that businesses take affirmative action to employ more minorities in 1965, under Executive Order 11246. This led to many more African-Americans being employed. It has helped more attend college, as well. The poverty rate of African-Americans stands at 24.5% today. [4] The poverty rate of whites is only 10.5%. [5] Affirmative action policies, while not entirely responsible, have clearly led to more African-Americans rising from poverty. 2. Ending affirmative action will hurt African-Americans. A study in 2007 estimated that ending affirmative action will lead to a 35 percent drop in minority groups like blacks and Hispanics attending the most competitive colleges. [7] A Princeton University study concurred that ending affirmative action would lead to a sharp drop in blacks and Hispanics attending top colleges. [8] Several states have already eliminated affirmative action, and these studies are partially done on those states. 3. Affirmative action creates more diverse environments, which are very valuable. Affirmative action ensures that more African-Americans and Hispanics are hired or accepted. This brings more cultures and more views to an environment. In college, it is important that students learn other cultures and grow to accept them since they will likely have to face these cultures again throughout their lives. More African-Americans and Hispanics in a college or workplace will help integrate people, and help people grow to respect other cultures more. This will ultimately help society. I have left Hispanics out of much of my argument up to this point. While I believe affirmative action for blacks is somewhat more important, I still believe affirmative action for Hispanics is very important. As I showed you earlier, they have a high poverty rate. They are unemployed at a 3.5% higher rate than whites, and they only make $.72 to every dollar a white makes. They have faced racism and oppression while in this country as well. It's important to include them in our affirmative action policies to make sure they are not discriminated against in the workplace or in the universities. Now, I have presented three opening arguments. I will proceed with other arguments and expound upon these, if I have to. I believe affirmative action needs to be continued until the inequality is not apparent. As of now, the inequality is apparent. I don't believe in setting a fixed percentage of blacks to be employed or accepted, as that can force unqualified applicants to be accepted. But I believe we should try to make our universities and workplaces reflect our societal demographics well. The inequality is apparent with our current statistics of unemployment and wages. There is no legitimate reason there should be such a large difference between races. Thank you for this debate. I await your rebuttals and arguments. [1] http://www.bls.gov... [2] http://www.bls.gov... [3] http://www.libraryindex.com... [4] http://pubdb3.census.gov... [5] http://pubdb3.census.gov... [6] http://pubdb3.census.gov... [7] http://www.andrew.cmu.edu... [8] http://www.princeton.edu...