Affirmative Action

Thank you for the debate. Since "affirmative action" is not a resolution, I assume the resolution is "Affirmative Action is more harmful than helpful." I stand in opposition to the resolution. First, I'd like to address my opponent's argument. My opponent makes the mistake that so many opponents of affirmative action make, which is confusing affirmative action with racial quotas. Affirmative action law doesn't provide for racial quotas. These quotas were declared unconstitutional in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978. [1] These quotas actually contradict affirmative action law since they don't require candidates to be qualified. In order for affirmative action to apply to the situation, the applicant has to be qualified. Executive Order 10925 states, "The contractor will, in all solicitations or advertisements for employees placed by or on behalf of the contractor, state that all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, creed, color, or national origin." Your situation is very unrealistic. There's not much to back up a situation where Caltech would not accept someone with perfect scores. As for the benefits of affirmative action, I will list several before my opponent has to prove the claim that affirmative action is more harmful than helpful. 1. Affirmative action has helped minorities and women. The number of minorities enrolling in college has drastically increased since 1976. [3] The percentage of blacks in relation to the total number of people enrolling in college has gone from 9.4% in 1976 to 13.1% in 2007. The percentage of Hispanics enrolling in college has gone from 3.5% to 11.4%. The percentage of Asians enrolling in college has gone from 1.8% to 6.7%. The percentage of females in college has gone up from 37.6% in 1961, after affirmative action was first implemented, to 57.2% in 2007. [4] The benefits of affirmative action are clear in college. The unemployment rate has gone from favoring men to slightly favoring women. [5] Women slightly outnumber men in the United States. Since the Civil Rights Act of 1964, black males' median wages have risen from about 60 percent of the white male worker's to 76 percent. [6][7] Women's median earnings have risen from about 60 percent in the 1960's to about 80 percent now. [6][7] The fact is there is still a gap between minorities and the majority. There are still gaps between women and men. Affirmative action will help by closing those gaps, as it has already done to an extent. 2. Affirmative action provides for a more diverse environment, benefiting workplaces and colleges. Patricia Gurin did a study on the effects of diversity on nearly 200 colleges. She found that students with greater classroom diversity tended to have higher scores on a test measuring complex thinking, greater intellectual self-confidence, a greater understanding of differences in groups, and a higher level of motivation to understand the views of others. [8] The greater understanding of others helps lead to a friendly environment, which is conducive to learning and working. I await my opponent's arguments. I'll show more benefits later, but I would first like to see the negative aspects of affirmative action. [1] http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com... [2] http://www.eeoc.gov... [3] http://nces.ed.gov... [4] http://nces.ed.gov... (Table 188) [5] http://www.bls.gov... [6] http://www.policyalmanac.org... [7] http://www.bls.gov... [8] http://www.apa.org...