Affirmative Action.Let's see. What is affirmative action?
Wiki defines it as such:
The term affirmative action refers to policies that take gender, race, or ethnicity into account in an attempt to promote equal opportunity. The focus of such policies ranges from employment and public contracting to educational outreach and health programs (such as breast or prostate cancer screenings). The impetus towards affirmative action is twofold: to maximize the benefits of diversity in all levels of society, and to redress disadvantages due to overt, institutional, or involuntary discrimination.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines it as such:
“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. When those steps involve preferential selection—selection on the basis of race, gender, or ethnicity—affirmative action generates intense controversy.
Okay. Enough definitions. If you don't know what affirmative action is by now, you are probably living on another planet anyway.
Let's start with the Stanford version. They automatically tell us that affirmative action is a positive policy. They have already made your mind up for you. Apparently they couldn't go as far as to even take a neutral stance on the issue. It was too much to say, "“Affirmative action” are steps taken to .....".
As far as wiki goes, they are a little more neutral. They almost tell it like it is. Let me tell you how I feel about it in a scenario situation. I won't use race or gender (at first) in these scenarios but I am sure most will assume.
Job recruit #1 goes to the office where he/she is met by a real nice receptionist. He/she is dressed to impressed and is carrying a briefcase full of certificates, awards, school transcripts and 1 framed diploma from Harvard Law. He/she eventually gets in to see the interviewer and has an A+ interview. He/she leaves and carries on several different interviews at a few different places that he/she would like to get his foot in the door.
Job recruit #2 is next. He/she also meets the very friendly receptionist. Unlike recruit #1 though, he/she isn't dressed very well and doesn't appear to be real put together. Like recruit #1, he/she waits and then gets in to meet the interviewer. He/she fumbles through his/her papers, appears very unprofessional and speaks with street slang.
A week slips by and out of nowhere recruit #1 and #2 get a call. You all know where this is going, right? Recruit #1 is told that they can't hire him/her at this time but will hold on to his resume for six months and at that time, he can reapply. Recruit #2 is called, congratulated on his/her new position and is asked if he/she can start immediately.
So, what happened here? This firm hired a less qualified minority and recruit #1 (a white guy) is denied a career, a chance at the American dream, ripped of his dignity and all of his works before mean nothing! This, my friend, is Affirmative Action!
The double standard in America is beyond horrific. Do you think I am the only white American guy that feels this way? No. Actually, most feel this way but are too terrified to say anything. If a black man in America is wronged, he is welcomed by the public to voice his opinion and the entire populace will cater to undoing this wrong. If any white man is wronged like recruit number one, how dare him say something! If he does muster the courage to do so, ... he is labeled a hater, a bigot, a filthy racist and the list goes on. What a great injustice that happens in a government that was created by his own kind. How bad will it get before white people wake up??
