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Affirmative Action Paradox

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On the Paradox of Affirmative Action Inequality has pervaded American society throughout history, and it continues to invade the lives of young Americans in the form of affirmative action. Affirmative action, a process in which colleges favor minorities and other disadvantaged groups, fails to serve its intended purposes: to compensate for historical discrimination. Worse, it creates aptly named reverse racism, wherein the majority has a disadvantage. Affirmative action also has a goal of creating diversity, but diversity includes more than race; moreover, the importance of equality vastly dwarfs the importance of diversity, though the two are closely entangled. Despite benevolent intentions, the institution of affirmative action policies …show more content…

According to Peter Thiel and David Sacks, "preferences hurt poor whites and even many Asians" (Source G). Whites and Asians, traditionally majority groups in college enrollment, have a disadvantage if affirmative action policies exist. Under affirmative action, these two groups must overcome an additional obstacle they cannot control: their race. As equality applies to all groups, this added disadvantage that whites and Asians face reflects the reverse racism created by affirmative action policies, an inequality unfavorable toward whites and Asians. The inequality becomes even more apparent in cartoons portraying affirmative action as a means through which minorities cheat the admissions system, doing so by utilizing affirmative action as a shortcut to the ultimate goal of admission (Source H). These cartoons depict affirmative action as a hurdle that whites must jump over and as a pedestal upon which a minority stands to reach the top of the admissions mountain more quickly. By providing an unfair means through which minorities can more easily gain admittance into universities, affirmative action does a disservice to majority races. The added difficulty to enter university reveals the additional burden …show more content…

As Thiel and Sacks argue, "preferences would be given on the basis of unusual characteristics, not on the basis of race," if universities truly sought "diversity" (Source G). Racial diversity does not exclusively constitute diversity; other factors such as socioeconomics status must also play a part. Affirmative action only focuses on race; for full consideration of diversity, schools must take into account other unusual characteristics, including, but not limited to, economic status, social class, and talents. The diversity claimed by proponents of affirmative action does not represent true diversity; it only considers racial diversity. Affirmative action may not even be as conducive to "diversity" as its supporters

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Critics of affirmative action frequent describe the policy as being unfair, asserting that it contravenes a conserved system of meritocracy in the country by basing selection decisions on demographic characteristics at the expense of ability and achievement (Thernstrom & Thernstrom, 1997). Defenders take a different position that can be explained by two facts: racism and sexism are still present in the United States society and affirmative action is the most efficient and effective way of reducing discrimination than the present alternatives. However, affirmative action increases fusion and fairness in employment and in education because it works as a proactive observing system. As Crosby and Smith (2005) consider, “such policies may help ensure that patterns of bias—including selective system bias— are uncovered and

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Race should never be taken into consideration when a student is being reviewed by an admissions team. When looking at qualifications, if a student is most certainly more qualified than another to be admitted to a college, then they should have priority over the other. The less qualified student should not receive any more leniency just because of their ethnic background. Affirmative Action is defined as “A set of procedures designed to eliminate unlawful discrimination between applicants, remedy the results of such prior discrimination, and prevent such discrimination in the future.

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It’s important to remember affirmative action is a response to the discrimination that already exists. Even with affirmative action, women continue to earn seventy-seven cents for every male dollar. African Americans continue to have twice the unemployment rate of white people. Only two research universities in states with affirmative action bans have at least the same proportion of black students as the state’s college-age population. “Many events in recent years have served as important reminders that our Nation, despite path-breaking progress on some fronts, continues to face, and at times to struggle with, matters of race and inclusion that remain ever present in our communities,” lawyers for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill wrote in a brief to the

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The fear is that without this policy, diversity will not always happen if left up to chance. It is true that schools and other organizations have discriminated against women and people of other race. This problem created an unfair advantage for males of the superior race. Supporters also charge that without affirmative action African Americans would have a more difficult process of being admitted into prestigious and predominately white universities (Hopkins, 2010). Affirmative Action allows minorities to reflect different areas of study and work that otherwise would have never been considered.

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Throughout many of the affirmative action legal cases, one of the main arguments from proponents is that it is necessary in order to right the wrongs of past racial discrimination. Some say that affirmative action is justified because even though white applicants may be more qualified, this is only because they did not face the same hardships as their minority counterparts (Rachels, Ethics, 1973).  Many argue if we do not integrate disadvantaged minorities into mainstream social institutions, they will continue to suffer the discrimination that has plagued our country for centuries and that this is detrimental to not only the minorities but also society as a whole (Anderson, 2002, 1270–71). However, the debate has recently shifted to the benefits of diversity in the classroom which the Supreme Court has affirmed as being a positive thing

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