Official TOC Round 1

Now, an important thing to know when deciding whether or not a policy had a positive effect is the alternate policy. If the alternate policy would have had a more positive effect than affirmative action, then the use of affirmative action over the alternate policy would have a negative effect. An alternate policy to Pro-Minority Affirmative Action is a color-blind Pro-Disadvantaged Affirmative Action. This is the policy that I will be arguing as more effective than Pro-Minority. By Pro-Disadvantaged, I mean in favor of people who don't have the economic ability to get to college ordinarily. "1. A.A. was and is a necessary program..." My opponent cites that racism continues to exist in the U.S. I ask these three questions: 1. Can you show that there is indeed racism against minorities? 2. Can you show that this racism is caused by race itself, and not another factor, such as correlation between race and economic standing? 3. Can you show that this racism is undeserved? For example, "black taxi drivers avoid picking up black male passengers after dark" (Sowell 172) because they know them to be more dangerous, and if one discriminates against felons, they discriminate more on African-Americans than European-Americans (Sowell 175). My opponent also cites increased segregation. But I thought A.A. was supposed to help? Obviously, it hasn't. All of the problems among the black population, from increased crime (Sowell 167), children born out of wedlock (164), fatherless families (163), and others have been increasing since the introduction of A.A. And yet, A.A. is called a success. "[O]ur recent complacency... has actually led to a highly noticeable increase in minority exclusion from both education and the workplace." So, you stop spoiling a kid, and he complains. We've been spoiling minorities, so we stop, and things go back to normal. That's not bad at all. "2. A.A. is an evolving program that is willing and proven able to adapt to the needs of the public. Its adaptability has ensured its ability to continue serving its purpose properly." The quotas were obviously horrible, as they forced employers to hire the worse employees. I don't know this "Confronting Prejudices Response" Model. Could you explain? "However, the point is that A.A., in and of itself, has and will continue, if allowed, to produce an equalized public sector." An equalized public sector? That doesn't even sound good. "3. Any remnants of A.A.'s selection policies are a necessity to the institutions that still employ them. "Selection policies for A.A. now are found only in the form of points awarded on higher education applications for being an identified member of a certain minority group." I can just imagine the conversation: Professor: "Here are your total points." Minority: "What's this 'Plus 20' thing written here?" "That's your minority bonus for being black." "Why?" "Because blacks are socio-disadvantaged." "Wait, you think I grew up in a ghetto or something? I'm middle class!" "But we generalize that all blacks are socio-disadvantaged, so you get a bonus." "I feel insulted!" http://www.bedfordstmartins.com... Read the part about he's being asked to label his children as "disadvantaged," when they are not. "Yet good intentions can blind us to the effects they generate when implemented. In our society affirmative action is, among other things, a testament to white good will and to black power, and in the midst of these heavy investments its effects can be hard to see. But after 20 years of implementation I think that affirmative action has shown itself to be more bad than good and that blacks--whom I will focus on in this essay--now stand to lose more from it than they gain." And then another conversation: Professor: "Here are your total points." Majority: "What's this 'Minus 20' thing written here?" "That's your majority penalty for being white." "Why?" "Because whites are all rich bigots." "Wait, you think I grew up in a mansion or something? I'm middle class!" "But we generalize that all whites are rich bigots, so you get a penalty." "I feel insulted!" "Empirical observation has clearly shown that A.A.'s selection policies are producing the positive change required to affirm the resolution." Wait, so if more minorities are hired, that is instantly a good thing? I don't think so. Don't forget that fewer majorities are being hired. From a color-blind perspective, affirmative action is completely neutral in all things, except for the fact that it rewards random people and makes them look better than they actually are. "In these states, the acceptance rates of minorities have plummeted in public universities across the board..." The numbers never should have been so high in the first place. "Now, is this simply because those students deserve positions less than competing White or Asian American students?" Notice how you assume that the Hispanics and blacks are all poorer than whites and Asians. Asians do better in school than even whites do (155). Where do they fit in this plan? Should they be discriminated for or against? Let's phrase the question properly: Now, is this simply because the students with fewer qualifications (regardless of race) deserve positions less than competing students with more qualifications (regardless of race)? Yes. "Specific demographics, including the socio-economically disadvantaged & most high concentrations of ethnic minorities (such as inner-city or urban public schools) consistently perform poorly on such tests due to discrimination inherent in the pedagogical methods practiced in their school districts." So, we have a loose correlation between socio-economic status and race. However, there are still rich minorities and poor majorities, so it is far from perfect. "Corrective selection practices such as points systems are an equitable way to balance out such disparities, as long as they are applied correctly." So, the brilliant plan put forth by universities was to generalize everybody's economic status by race, regardless of the diverse incomes within each race, and reward everybody points based on the color of their skin, even if the black man is upper-class, or the white man is lower-class. Why not just go PRO-lower-class? "The Supreme Court ... made a specific legal & constitutional distinction that A.A. is now adhering to: in moderation & with due consideration, a points selection system for minorities is fair to all & beneficial to the institution, as well as all students involved." Wait, so it is beneficial to me that I have to give up my spot to a less-qualified candidate because my skin isn't dark enough? If you appeal to the Supreme Court's authority, I shall cite beem0r, the top debater on this site. "Only if we base it on something meaningful, like economic status. No race/gender crap." You see, we could easily have it where anybody coming from a socio-economically disadvantaged background gets benefits. Instead, we use skin color as a poor, racist indicator of social standing. Proof that A.A. is racism: Racism - racial discrimination - the act of discriminating based on race rather than individually - the act of distinguishing based on race rather than individually (affirmative action) Pro-Minority Affirmative Action has led to horrible reform to U.S. institutions. It's gotten to where we reward points to somebody for being black, regardless of whether or not he's one of the lower-class blacks that affirmative action was intended for. Worse, it creates insulting generalizations in everybody's heads that all Hispanics and African-Americans are poor, while all Asian-Americans and European-Americans are rich. From the color-blind perspective, I see random people receive positions over the people with more qualifications. From any other perspective, I see racism. How can this racism be considered "positive"?