Affirmative Action

"The desire to have diversity at a University [or employment] level comes from a desire to change the fact that the people who had access and privilege in this country were only a certain class, race or sex of people for a very long time in this country. The commitment to diversity comes from the desire to be more inclusive and fair, so that we acknowledge the fact that not everyone starts out on an even scale, benefits, access to achieve. And so, we do something about that in a country where we want everyone to have a shot at success."~Kerry Washington A. Statistics demand the acknowledgement of discrimination. In an ideal world, affirmative action would not exist. No one would have to worry about factors out of their control playing into their major life decisions, and everything would be fair and just. As both my opponent and I can tell you, this is not a world in which we live. Despite growth in the department of discrimination, to date we still have the following problems: -1 in 100 Americans are incarcerated, 1 in 36 Hispanics, 1 in 15 blacks (1 in 9 black men from age 20-34). [1] -The unemployment rate for blacks is over 15%, over 12% for Hispanics. [2] National unemployment is 7.9% -Median income for blacks is $34, 345, $37, 913 for, and $55, 530 for Caucasians. [2] -30% of Hispanics don't have health insurance, just under 20% of blacks, and 10% of Caucasians aren't insured.[2] -Women are paid less than men, 77 cents to every dollar. [3] -For the second time in a row, studies and experiments confirm that employers prefer Caucasians with a felony over African Americans without one, or just as much. [4] The abolition of affirmative action does nothing to acknowledge these inequalities, it effectively turns its back to it. Discrimination, though not usually very blatant, is very much alive in the United States. To believe that there is a shade of pigment or sex that would cause someone to be more violent, to not want health insurance, to not work on an equal scale, to not earn an equal pay, or to want to be incarcerated, is a failure to reason honestly. The goal of affirmative action is inclusivity to all regardless of race, sex, or religious background. This is not a minority or a women problem, this is an American problem. To view otherwise is to fuel racial prejudice and stereotypes. B. Affirmative Action & racism/prejudice discrimination are not equals. Affirmative action is in place for the exact opposite reason that most opponents of it tend to shed light towards — to neutralize racial prejudice and discrimination. “Discrimination is theprejudicial or distinguishing treatment of an individual based on their actual or perceived membership in a certain group or category, such as theirrace,gender,sexual orientation,ethnicity,national origin, orreligion. It involves the group's initial reaction or interaction, influencing the individual's actual behavior towards the group or the group leader, restricting members of one group from opportunities or privileges that are available to another group” [5] The most important part of the previous definition is what is in discussion in this week’s debate,”…restricting members of one group from opportunities or privileges that are available to another group.” Most opponents of affirmative action generally appeal to sense of fair, equality, and do so on an appearance of an even scale. The problem with this scale is that it does not reflect reality. Minorities and women face discrimination in the work place.[6] To suggest that minorities or women have a leg up in any phase of selection regarding career fields, schooling, or other similar environments, is to ignore the bigger picture. Minorities aren’t restricting majorities from opportunities or privileges that aren’t available to majorities, statistics prove that it is the other way around. "The problem with this is that it uses the same word -- discrimination -- to describe two very different things. Job discrimination is grounded in prejudice and exclusion, whereas affirmative action is an effort to overcome prejudicial treatment through inclusion. The most effective way to cure society of exclusionary practices is to make special efforts at inclusion, which is exactly what affirmative action does. The logic of affirmative action is no different than the logic of treating a nutritional deficiency with vitamin supplements. For a healthy person, high doses of vitamin supplements may be unnecessary or even harmful, but for a person whose system is out of balance, supplements are an efficient way to restore the body's balance."[8] C. Affirmative Action provides incentive. "Perhaps the greatest misconception about affirmative action is that it is a preference program. Affirmative action has never meant giving unqualified individuals access to employment, business and educational opportunities. Rather, it was designed and should continue to be a program that requires critical thinking about what constitutes legitimate qualification requirements and gives opportunities to qualified and deserving individuals... Its primary aim has been to end the exclusion of people who belong to groups that have been subordinated or left out of certain jobs and schools."[7]"What African-Americans meet at the door is an assumption that they will not measure up to the standards an organization has set. That assumption is fueled by an unspoken presumption--Murray and Hernnstein's book The Bell Curve notwithstanding--of the intellectual inferiority of African-Americans, ostensibly confirmed by their lower standardized test scores. There is a tendency to focus too strongly on one or two easily observable measures of qualification and not on the most important: how people perform once they are in the actual situation, regardless of the factors--drive, motivation, resilience, sheer determination, passion or native intelligence--that got them there. But test scores are designed to be only predictive and, in reality, they often are not."[7] [1]http://www.nytimes.com... [2]http://www.americanprogress.org... [3]http://www.politifact.com... [4] http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com... [5] http://en.wikipedia.org... [6] http://smallbusiness.chron.com...[7]http://www.fiveoclockclub.com...; [8]http://www.understandingprejudice.org...;