In recent weeks, there has been much discussion on the validity of affirmative action as a viable and necessary program. When one is trying to decide whether a program that gives preferential treatment to people discriminated against on the basis of race or sex is just, one must examine the reason for the program in the first place.
America has historically been a nation with its fair share of inequities. Black people and Indians were both used as slaves. Organizations like the NAACP, Southern Christian Leadership Conference and others have fought valiantly against the principles of racial bigotry and hatred. Many of the people from these groups have even given their lives so that America would be a better place for their children.
Affirmative action was born out of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII of this document banned discrimination in employment and formed the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
The act outlawed discrimination, but it did not end discriminatory attitudes. In fact, discrimination today may be even more prevalent than it was in the 1960s as evidenced by calls for the abolition of various types of civil rights legislation. Discrimination has become so clever and camouflaged today that many people do not even realize they have been discriminated against. Discrimination is still alive and well, but it has taken on new identities and means to better disguise itself.
The complaints of affirmative action today are that it promotes reverse discrimination and that it is unfair to the majority. First of all, there is a gross misunderstanding of what affirmative action is. The definition from the EEOC is “positive efforts to recruit, employ, train and promote workers who have been traditionally discriminated against.”
Contrary to popular belief, Black people are not the only ones to benefit from the program. People with disabilities, women, people of certain age groups, and of course racial minorities are all covered when talking about affirmative action. Any person in any type of minority group is mentioned when it comes to the mission statement of affirmative action.
Second, affirmative action is not a quota system. The Supreme Court in Bakke v. The University of California ruled quotas unconstitutional. The government does not have a mandate for a certain percentage of minorities that must be employed in every office.
America’s history, when it comes to the treatment of minorities and women, definitely warrants an affirmative action program. People must remember that the affirmative action program is designed to level the playing field and not to give an unfair advantage to anyone.
There are two statistics that are indicative of why the affirmative action program is still needed today. First of all, Black people do not constitute more than 3 percent of the workforce in the professions of medical doctors, lawyers and certified public accountants (CPA’s), but they are 13 percent of the total population. Second, only 3 percent of federal cases have found reverse discrimination against whites.
If for no other reason at all, I think affirmative action should be kept because it has not yet done the job that it was created to do. It is definitely working as it makes employers more active in recruiting QUALIFIED candidates and it protects people of all minorities, be it by sex or race.
Affirmative action is just one of the proactive programs that America needs to make up for hundreds of years of mistreatment and disenfranchisement towards minority groups.
Nyerere Tryman is a senior political science major.