Affirmative Action Nowadays, a normal person in America feels like Alice in Wonderland, because of many social policies in this country are marked with such degree of irrationality that it makes the whole objective reality grossly illogical. The affirmative action policy is the best example of how people who strive to eliminate racism, base their vision of the future on establishing racial selection as the most fundamental principle of insuring equality. The same left-wing liberals, who never get tired of going over and over about the dangers of racism, want to make racism an institutionalized policy. Any of those who raise their voice against the cheer absurdity of affirmative action is automatically labeled as angry white male/female, nazi-sympatizer or holocaust denier. It is quite impossible to define the affirmative action in one sentence. Basically, it is applying the racial quota principle in the field of education and employment.
Still, the public education is the one that is mostly affected by it; therefore, we will stay focused primarily on the effects of affirmative action in this field. The racial equality is being accepted in modern America as scientifically proven fact. Ideally, such equality should result in adequate representation of minorities in all aspects of social life. Yet, we see the situation when the facts of reality contradict liberals wishful thinking. Therefore, the hawks of political-correctness could not come up with anything better than adjusting reality itself, so that it would fit into their theory of universal equality. In 1994 Richard Herrstein and Charles Murray had published book called Bell Curve. In it, they had proven that peoples IQ level directly depends on their racial background: In fact IQ is substantially heritable .
The Essay on Affirmative Action A Counter Productive Policy
By definition, racism is the discrimination of prejudice against race. Discrimination, by definition, is treatment or consideration based on class or category rather than on individual merit. In 1961, when President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 10.925, he was indicating that individual businessmen should take affirmative action to ensure applicants and employees are treated "without ...
. . the genetic component of IQ is unlikely to be smaller than 40 percent. . . For purposes of this discussion, we will adopt a middling estimate of 60 percent heritability, which, by extension, means that IQ is only about 40 percent a matter of environment (Bell Curve, p.105).
It is a common knowledge that the non-White students generally score much lower on IQ tests. The authors of Bell Curve further suggest that: Race differences show whites aren’t at fault for blacks being down, and making whites pay for something they’re not responsible for is a terrible injustice. Eliminating affirmative action is the first step (Bell Curve, p.168).
Colored people simply have lower capability of grasping the essence of abstract concepts. There are approximately 20 different synonyms for the word cocaine in Ebonics and none for the word spirit. The affirmative action, when there is a certain quota reserved exclusively for non-White students, might help to make it appear as if students of all ethnicities were equally inclined towards studying. Yet, it is an artificially created situation and it can never win White students respect towards those, whose presence in university is purely accidental.
Te roots of affirmative action can be traced back to 1961, when President Kennedy used this term for the first time, while insisting that there should be no racial biasness, when it comes to employment or education. Oddly enough, this coincided with introduction of multiculturalism as basis on which American new immigration policy was to be established. But it did not take too long for the affirmative action to transform itself into an aggressive social practice, enforced by the governmental means. By nineties, universities, large companies and government institutions were being forced to report racial dynamics within its bodies. If representation of minorities was found inadequate, it would result in repressions against such institutions. Traditionally, Democrats are considered as such that are in favor of affirmative action, unlike Republicans.
The Essay on Affirmative Action Students Minorities Programs
... universities use race as a consideration when selecting their students. The justifications given for implementing affirmative action ... occur. Another justification is that affirmative action decreases racial stereotypes. Defenders of affirmative action policies argue that these policies ... whites and Asians out of jobs and schools to make room for minorities with much weaker records, affirmative action ...
Yet, there many Democrats that did not lose their sanity altogether, who oppose it. That is why its hard to make generalizations in this respect. The dividing line here is rather of biological nature than the political. The degenerates of all sorts, feminists, human rights activists and gays naturally support affirmative action. But those, upon whom the well-being of this country really depends – teachers, doctors and qualified industrial workers are strongly opposed to it; because they rightly consider affirmative action as a tool in promotion of racial biasness everywhere it is being applied. Presently, we witness the beginning of new racially motivated era of McCarthyism.
The issue of racism in America is becoming to look like a rush the more it is being scratched, the more it itches. We can draw parallels between American society being obsessed with fighting racism and Inquisitions witch-hunt. Back then, there were many eyewitness accounts of evil witches flying overhead and causing all kinds of disturbances with their magic powers. The same way Americans begin to see concealed racism even in advertising, when there is no colored person (or child) included. In universities and colleges it resulted in creating the situation when term subtle racist can be applied to the students who simply do not hang out with colored classmates too much. This, of course, cannot be thought as any kind of racist attitude on their part. The explanation lies in the fact that students with higher IQ simply dont like to socialize with those whore not quite up to their level.
At times, it seems like the real goal of left-wing liberals and democrats is actually spreading the racism, as many people who became disappointed in affirmative action, spill their anger on minorities. But it is important to understand that the real promoters of affirmative action are the White liberals. Also, the representatives of certain chosen people are being engaged in promoting the affirmative action with little too much enthusiasm. The ill-famed Jewish Anti-Defamation League is the vanguard of racial tolerance in universities. The concept of affirmative action was actually being designed by this group, which enjoys an immense lobbyist power. Yet, at the same time it asks Jews for nothing less but maintaining their racial purity! Students in American universities are getting tired of double standards being applied to them by the same people who promote diversity.
The Term Paper on Affirmative Action Black African Racism
... affirmative action in number. Affirmative action encourages more numerous and more diverse people in the job industry. Affirmative action promotes equality for all Americans ... of Affirmative Action Milestones (2005). web White House Staff (1995). Affirmative Action: Empirical Research. In Affirmative Action ... must acknowledge the fact that affirmative action suppresses racism and eliminates it, simply ...
James Feagin is a member Southern Poverty Law Center, which is the group closely associated with JAL. In his article The Continuing Significance of Racism he argues that there are too many Whites within universities administrators and staff. In his opinion, this situation is intolerable and he is being very frank, suggesting that they will need to be laid off, in order to free room for Blacks. In respect of this authors ideas, one can only wonder about how come this person had never been charged with Black racism (what he really is) and instead being praised to the sky for his effort for bringing more color in American universities. It appears like there is a certain force behind people of different cultural backgrounds being continually alienated from each other. The most dangerous about it is the fact that this force disguises itself as something opposite to what it really is. On the surface, political correctness strives for more tolerance, yet the practical effects of this concept are far from what they are expected to be. The main result of this is American society getting more and more secularized into numerous ethnic groups that pursue their own interests, without caring about America as a whole.
There are African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanics the emphasis is being put on the racial characteristics of every particular group by very same people that never get tired repeating that the race is not important! Many Black people travel to Africa in search of their roots, as theyre being told to be proud of their ancestry. But usually neither of them wants to visit Africa again, after coming back from the trip. Their attitude also changes; they refuse to be called Afro-Americans and want to be simply Americans. There is no official censorship on freedom of expression but there is one, de facto. People have to be very careful what they say and how they say it. In its turn, this leads to situation when citizens have to be suppressing their thoughts.
The Essay on Sociological Analysis of Racism American History X
Racism being a common concern for most sociologists is somewhat inevitable and a cause for a large proportion of the problems that occur in the society. American History X (1998) is a film that tells a rather heartrending tale of two brothers that got caught in a ghastly web of bitterness and hatred. Although racism is openly practiced, it isn’t entirely irreversible. The process of escaping from ...
Their frustration with this fact finds the way to vent out sooner or later, but usually it happens in not the most politically correct form, causing the self-appointed watchers of public morality to come up with further accusations of racism. In 1990 Peter Albach conducted sociological studies at the University of West Florida. He gives us some statistical figures that shed light on the extent of racial discrimination in this university. It appeared that 67% of respondents had experienced it in one way or another: On a general level, 74% of Whites and 85% of Blacks believed in the existence of racial hostility (Albach, p.37).
We can say that, to the large degree, this situation can be explained by application of affirmative action policy in this particular university. The existence of racial hostility between many Americans of different ethnicities is a fact, but the worst way to deal with it is to deny it altogether.
As practice shows, every attempt to restructure society, according to some utopist principles, had failed. The same is going to happen with multicultural utopia. We can only talk of minimizing the harmful effects of such hostility. The irony here lies in the fact that the idea of affirmative action was designed by Whites to help racial minorities to stand up for their rights when it comes to dealing with Whites. So, in its core, its racist because it is based on the assertion that the colored minorities are not capable to match wits with Whites in fair competition, so they need to be helped up. Yet, as soon as underprivileged minority acquires some real self-respect, it rejects these White mans notions and begins to act in its own interests. That is why non-Whites subconsciously consider affirmative action as another example of White peoples arrogance. It also accounts for low efficiency of affirmative action personnel. Colored workers know very well that it is not the quality of their performance that keeps them employed, but the color of their skin.
The Term Paper on Affirmative Action 26
... near future, and affirmative action continues to separate minority groups from whites, we can be sure to see racial tension reach points ... quotation from supporters of affirmative action that stated “affirmative action is in place because the government feels that blacks and women have been ... that already work there. Any idea of discrimination or racism that already exists in the workers may be ...
It undermines their self-respect, resulting in their further alienation from the rest of society. Racial prejudices exist, but its very unlikely that they can be rooted out, since their roots sit deep in subconsciousness. Racial mistrust can only be weakened by ones personal positive experience of dealing with people from different cultures. Universal love and tolerance cannot be simply imposed on people. As long as every particular culture respects itself, it will learn to respect others. It is important to understand that people with different ethnic backgrounds have exactly the same rights as Whites. Therefore, the situation when they are actually being given advantages over Whites is utterly intolerable. As Thomas Jackson in his article What is Racism notices: Filipinos and El Salvadorans are doubtless astonished to discover that simply by setting foot in the United States they are entitled to affirmative action preferences over native-born whites, but can they be blamed for accepting them? (Jackson) I think that if any non-White new immigrant complains about racism, it would be better to offer such person to simply go back to the country of his origin, where is no racism along with absence of running water and other things, which Americans take for granted.
Without a doubt, such prospect has much better chances of eliminating his concerns over the racism than the policy of affirmative action. One of the greatest Black writers Booker T. Washington once said: The individual who can do something that the world wants done will, in the end, make his way regardless of his race (Washington, p.99).
When he was getting education in 19th century, Washington went through a real racism, not the imaginary one. Yet, he always used to stress out that it served him a lot of good by strengthening his character. Colored students would be better off if they applied as much effort into studies as they do in discovering the slightest signs of racism To conclude this, we must say that if this country is to remain sane, the policy of affirmative action needs to be eliminated altogether. Also, those responsible for enforcing this policy must be held accountable for the damage they have done to society.
Bibliography:
Altbach, Peter The Racial Dilemma in American Higher Education.
New York: State University of New York Press. 1991. Feagin, James The continuing significance of racism: Discrimination against Black students in White colleges. Journal of Black Studies, 1992. 22, 546-578. Herrnstein, Richard and Murray, Charles. Bell Curve New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1994.
The Term Paper on The Effects Of Scientific Racism On Black Women
Scientific racism has been used to oppress, enslave and to justify torture. In my essay I will explore how scientific racism has been used to detriment the health of women of colour. Throughout history women of colour have been experimented upon, sexualized and reproductively abused with scientific racism as justification or the underlying premise for the thought behind this abuse. I will explore ...
Jackson, Thomas What is Racism? 2 May 2001. Racialist Library. 20 Oct. 2005 http://www.stormfront.org/whitenat/racism.htm.