“Affirmative action” means positive steps taken to increase the representation of women and minorities in areas of employment, education, and business from which they have been historically excluded.

Taken from: Affirmative Action (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)


Do you think Affirmative Action has been helpful or hurtful? Do you think it's "fair"??

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In this day and age it's not fair at all.

I'd rather let the men do it all!

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Your wish was granted 100's of years ago dolly

I grew up in a state with affirmative action and was all for it until the whites became the minority and it was decided that they didn't qualify! then I realized it was not fair and unbiased!

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Kathy and Squeak make excellent points

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Sad to say I am for it, however we as a nation still have so much more to do and sometimes it seems like we have really nor moved far enough to make things better for all Americans. Peace Catherine

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in memory of my beloved beautiful brother Sonny who is now an angel in heaven

I voted yes and no, there were some good reasons to start it.
Here is my reason for saying no - when one person get's a job based solely on the color of his skin, vs. qualifications, then it hurts everyone, consumers, patients, whatever the case may be. I'd rather have someone helping me who was a white man who got straight A's thru school, rather than someone, black, hispanic, asian, whatever, who did not.

Than again, for so long blacks and hispanics and so many other races were discriminated against, that they couldn't make it, and then the ones who did struggle thru school and actually stayed, were not getting jobs they should get...

Could you imagine if they had affermative action now for whites, the NBA would be shot, who wants a white man who's not as good at making baskets as Shaq or Lebron, but got on, just because he was white? It's not good for those of us watching.

IMAO: Congress Apologizes to Blacks for Affirmative Action


On July 30, 2008 House of Representatives issued an apology to black Americans for the wrongs committed against them by Affirmative Action laws. Most of the media only talked about the slavery apology that same day.

"Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, (D-Mich.), chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, called it "long overdue".
"No matter how hard I've worked for the positions I've earned," said Cheeks, "people automatically assume that I'm not really qualified, that I've been promoted over more-qualified whites to fulfill an Affirmative Action quota. It's insulting and degrading.""

I think that it is a sad thing that minorities who deserved the position feel others dont recognize their hard work and think it is just to fill the quota

I did not vote for nor against. That's because I don't think it's fair in many case however I see plenty of racism so I know it may be still needed in some cases.
I am not sure what the answer is but I know that in many cases people get passed over because of it while others who are not worthy advance. It's not fair.

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"Men can't be fat only fat women can be fat" Peter Griffin
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I agree, it's a double-edged sword. However, most of life's toughest problems do not have easy solutions.

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~~~MsMiser

Not for it. I just want one person to be measured against another person for any job based solely on who is best qualified.

And, for the record, I never even knew AA was supposed to improve the likelihood of a woman being selected over a man (of equal qualifications) for employment. Who knew? And has this ever, to anyone's observation here, been enforced???

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"The errors of faith are better than the best thoughts of unbelief." - Thomas Russell

In my husbands company, there have been many situations where it has been "encouraged" to hire a woman if she is interviewed to improve their quota in certain fields. So, it has been done and I am sure still is to ensure that the company looks like a slice of America, which is what I think it was supposed to do.

Take schools, it used to be all white teachers teaching in school with 10 per cent minority. The thinking in our district was to make sure our goal was to have 10% minority teachers so that the staff looked like the student population. So, you try and attract the best minority candidates you can.

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We miss you, sweet brother.
Praying for my Marine Son who is deployed somewhere in the sandbox until July, 2008! He's HOME!!!!! God Bless the USA!!!!!

I believe it absolutly had it's time and place, but I don't think it's needed now...or am I naive to think TODAY people hire because of performance and experience and not race or gender?

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Mary

In a perfect world that would be ideal.......My boss will give preference to a minority hands down. He likes to have his minority quotas!

I think people need to get their positions on their own merit....not just because the company has a quota to meet...its completely insane.....Sherri

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"It isn't that liberals are ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so."
- Ronald Reagan

I'm against affirmative action. I think it's discriminatory and unfair to hire someone or give benefits to anyone simply because of gender or color. I think the best person ought to be the one chosen and if that means only one group gets it, so be it.

Absolutely. In the technical fields, we must give preferential hiring to technical females and under-represented minorities. We must demonstrate that we have actively sought out these types of candidates before we are permitted to make an offer to a caucasian, Asian, or Indian male. (Indian being from the country of India, not Native American - Native Americans are underrepresented minorities in technical and other fields) It went so far at one point that we had to hire females and URMs that were less qualified than their white male counterparts if we judged them as able to get up to speed in 6-9 months. I know this is also the case for other fields....including some government positions.

AA in some form or another is alive and kicking. I personally believe that we should judge each individual by their own merits and that is what I strive to do.

cj/

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What you do not wish upon yourself, extend not to others. -Confucius
What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man. -Hillel

As I stated previously, I think it's a double-edged sword. I think the heart may have been in the right place at the time, but the actual plan has created as many (or more) problems than it has solved. Anyway, I'm sure it must have sounded good on paper. I do love everyone's idealism though (LOL).... that people should be considered only according to their merit and ability. If that were the case, AA would have never come into play. And unfortunately, prejudice is still alive and kicking throughout this country.

Not trying to be a smart butt here, but I am curious to know how you all feel about this scenario.....

A couple of months ago I took the US postal exam and discovered that US vets get preferential treatment. i.e. - They get additional points added to their score simply because they are US vets, and for no other reason. So.... Do these same idealistic ideas apply in this case? Shouldn't each applicant still be judged on their sole ability to score well on the exam? Or, should the "vet" issue have any bearing?

.

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~~~MsMiser

IMO, no group should get points added. Final test scores should be exactly what was earned - not enhanced for some groups. But then again, I was NEVER for affirmative action and this is the same thing - although it's more akin to nepotism. I think the playing field should be level and trying to artificially balance it just makes it unfair to someone else.

In a perfect world people would get the job based on their qualifications, but this isn't a perfect world. There is a lot of discrimanation still out there. I had a job where this guy I worked with made several dollars more per hour than I and several other women,eventhough he had no experience in the job we had. I had another job where this woman was doing a job for months ,then all of the sudden the boss gave the position to a man who had no experience.

People get jobs based on different things depending on who is doing the hiring. There are some that get the job because they are young and they pay them less, Older and they feel they will be more dependable. Some places where the manager is male they will hire all pretty young women. There are some White people that got there job for being White and Black people that got their because they were Black. The Problem is that many people assume that a White person got theirs because they were qualified but they also assume that the Black person wasn't qualified.

I was watching a News program last year where they were talking to a group of Black people that had posted their resume online and didn't get that much response. The show changed their names to something like Susan, Kelly ,John without changed anything else on there resume and they got a lot more job offers.
On another show their was a lady that was a headhunter for different companies said that she was told not choose people with "Black sounding names"