Affirmative action

Unfortunately, Con misunderstands the purpose of affirmative action. It is not a set of policies designed to give minorities an advantage. It is a set of policies designed to give minorities equal opportunity. Affirmative action helps provide minorities that are at a disadvantage because of historical accident with the equal opportunity guaranteed by the 14th amendment. Con completely misrepresents what affirmative action in his discussion of the 14th amendment. Affirmative action does not "prohibit" an individual from getting employment on the basis of their race. What affirmative action does is guarantee equal opportunity for employment for minorities. This does not "prohibit" anyone from acquiring employment. It does the opposite. Con claims that affirmative action pits the races against each other. This is patently false. What affirmative action does is provide equal opportunity for groups that are at a disadvantage as a result of historical accident. It is unlawful discrimination (i.e. racism) to allow Whites an advantage as a result of the systematic oppression of Blacks in the past. Blacks are at a disadvantage primarily because of the actions that Whites took against Blacks, including institutional racism and slavery. Affirmative action thus attempts to level the playing field, providing Blacks and Whites with equal opportunity under the assumption that they are equal under the law and therefore deserve equal opportunity. To deny Blacks equal opportunity as Whites is to say that they are not equal under the law, and as such, is racism. Con says we don't need affirmative action because, instead, we can give schools more funding. What Con does not seem to realize is that giving schools more funding because they are in a low-income neighborhood, or because they are attended primarily by Blacks or Hispanics, is a form of affirmative action. What Con does not seem to realize is that giving schools more funding, because they are in a low-income neighborhood, is affirmative action. Here is the definition of affirmative action: "A set of procedures designed to eliminate unlawful discrimination between applicants, remedy the results of such prior discrimination, and prevent such discrimination in the future." http://www.law.cornell.edu... The purpose of affirmative action is to "eliminate unlawful discrimination" and to "remedy the results of such prior discrimination." Blacks and Hispanics receive worse public education than Whites. Con has conceded this fact. This is "unlawful discrimination," by any standard, and as such, policies to eliminate this unlawful discrimination need to be put in place. Providing more funding to schools is one form of affirmative action that would certainly help. The form of the affirmative action policy is not important to this debate. What matters is that affirmative action is a good thing. It is a good thing to eliminate unlawful discrimination. It is also a good thing to remedy the results of prior discrimination. The reason Blacks receive worse public education is because of prior unlawful discrimination. Until recently, they were the target of systematic oppression. They were the target of racism, and slavery. These institutional practices of the past have produced material disadvantages for Blacks that persist to this day, including the fact that they receive worse public education as a result of living in low-income neighborhoods. Affirmative action policies to remedy these problems would be helpful. One such affirmative action policy is providing more funding to schools, which Con himself seems to support. Con's argument is incoherent insofar as Con both advocates affirmative action policies (providing more funding for schools) and attacks affirmative action. Con claims we must take race and gender off applications so that people are hired purely on their ability. What Con does not seem to realize is that race and gender are part of a person's "ability." If someone is a woman, they have had a difference experience in life than a man. Likewise, if someone is black, they have had a very different experience in life than someone who is white. These differences are part of what different people bring to a job. They are qualifications like any other. Furthermore, if Con is referring to SAT scores, it has been proven that the SAT discriminates against Blacks. The way you define "merit" or "ability" is itself a form of unlawful discrimination against a group of people, and so, affirmative action helps eliminate that form of unlawful discrimination as well.