The U.S. Department of Labor (n.d.) describes affirmative action as shown below:
For federal contractors and subcontractors, affirmative action must be taken by covered employers to recruit and advance qualified minorities, women, persons with disabilities, and covered veterans. Affirmative actions include training programs, outreach efforts, and other positive steps. These procedures should be incorporated into the company’s written personnel policies. Employers with written affirmative action programs must implement them, keep them on file and update them annually. (para. 1)
Do you believe affirmative action is in and of itself discriminatory, that is to say, discriminates against qualified non-minorities in favor of minorities? Why, or why not?
Reference
U.S. Department of Labor. (n.d.). Affirmative action. Retrieved from http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/hiring/affirmativeact”¦
Keep it limited to a one paragraph response for the above question
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Please respond to my classmate response below:
It seems to me that affirmative action or AA is the preferable policy, but one rightly wonders, how does one respond to non-minority applicants who think AA discriminates against them. A first point is that the pervasive discrimination against minorities far outweighs this single act of discrimination. Non-minority applicants might wish they were in the minority for example, during the college admissions’ process, but not for their entire lives. Second, note that there’s relatively little objection to discrimination in favor of athletes, children of donors and children of alums. These factors should make it easier for non-minorities to see their rejection as an act of social justice. They should also understand that though they themselves had no role in establishing our society’s systematic discrimination against minorities, they have nonetheless benefited from this discriminatory behaviors over the years. Therefore in my mind, I do not believe that AA is in and of itself a discriminatory practice rather, attempts to give the minorities an opportunity to also grow and get fair leverage when it comes to opportunities for life development and growth.