Pro-Minority Affirmative Action

Here is the basic summary, from what I can tell, of my opponent's intro: 1. European colonists enslaved and oppressed African-Americans that they imported from Africa. 2. The African-Americans have been gaining rights, but are still poor and uneducated. 3. Hispanics are also poor and uneducated (no reason given). 4. Asians do great, so they don't deserve help. "1. Affirmative action helps undo the effects of past wrongs, by helping African-Americans rise up in society." Actually, if you think about it, the slave trade was one of the best things that could have happened for many African-Americans. If the slave trade did not exist, the descendents of the no-longer-enslaved Africans would be living in Africa, where the standard of living is much lower than it is in America [1]. Instead, they live in America, and now they hate the European colonists for bringing them to the best country in the world [2][3]. My Texas History teacher said that he would rather have been a slave in America than a free man in Africa, because free men in Africa were quickly enslaved by each other, and America is just that much better. Finally, we come to the fact that African-Americans today are generally poorer and more uneducated than European-Americans. However, why reward all African-Americans, including the successful ones, when we can instead help all of the poor and uneducated Americans at once? "2. Ending affirmative action will hurt African-Americans." That's like saying that if you stop spoiling a kid, he's going to pout. Apparently, my opponent takes no consideration in the fact that by the very nature of affirmative action, ending it will help European-Americans. Plus, the African-Americans that need affirmative action would still be helped under the plan I shall present at the end of this round. "3. Affirmative action creates more diverse environments, which are very valuable." So, because they're different, we should give them preferential treatment? There are numerous cultures that are piled into the one term "white man," and there are plenty of Asian-American cultures that are doing even better than European-Americans. If I were to go out and start my very own culture, I'd be the only person with it, so I should be a shoo-in for anything I ever apply for, right? Right? No. That's ridiculous. "It's important to include [Hispanics] in our affirmative action policies to make sure they are not discriminated against in the workplace or in the universities." And you know that there is discrimination because...? "I believe affirmative action needs to be continued until the inequality is not apparent." It's not so much the race that causes the inequality. It's the economic standing. "The inequality is apparent with our current statistics of unemployment and wages." http://www.twainquotes.com... "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics." "There is no legitimate reason there should be such a large difference between races." Yes, there is: economic standing. More arguments against Pro-Minority Affirmative Action: "Some opponents say affirmative action devalues the accomplishments of people who are chosen because of the social group to which they belong rather than their qualifications." [4] "Conservative commentator Dr. Thomas Sowell identified some negative results of race-based affirmative action in his book, 'Affirmative Action Around the World: An Empirical Study.' Sowell writes that affirmative action policies encourage non-preferred groups to designate themselves as members of preferred groups (i.e., primary beneficiaries of affirmative action) to take advantage of group preference policies; that they tend to benefit primarily the most fortunate among the preferred group (e.g., upper and middle class blacks), often to the detriment of the least fortunate among the non-preferred groups (e.g., poor whites or Asians); that they reduce the incentives of both the preferred and non-preferred to perform at their best — the former because doing so is unnecessary and the latter because it can prove futile — thereby resulting in net losses for society as a whole; and that they increase animosity toward preferred groups." [5] All of these negative effects do not occur under my plan. Now, for my own plan: Color-Blind Pro-Disadvantaged Affirmative Action. Under this plan, affirmative action is practiced for all people who have had a poor/uneducated background, no matter what their race. This would still help minorities more than majorities, because minorities are more often poor/uneducated. However, it would avoid the off chance that an African-American or Hispanic is actually more qualified than a European-American or Asian-American, but still gains benefits of affirmative action. So, the advantages of Pro-Disadvantaged over Pro-Minority: It's not racism. It always works towards the person who is actually disadvantaged, as many members of minorities are currently better off than many members of the majority. And the disadvantages: o.O So, basically, my opponent is going to have to argue that a middle-class African-American or Mexican-American deserves more help than a lower-class European-American or Asian-American. 1. http://wiki.answers.com... 2. http://boards.history.com... 3. http://www.thehighroad.org... 4. Sher, George, "Preferential Hiring", in Tom Regan (ed.), Just Business: New Introductory Essays In Business Ethics, Philadelphia, Temple University Press, 1983, p.40. 5. http://en.wikipedia.org...