Should the Federal Affirmative Action Program be abandoned?

Should the Federal Affirmative Action Program be abandoned? Yes, the federal affirmative action program should be abandoned. Affirmative action is controversial because many people believe it encourages special treatment of certain groups and encourages so-called reverse discrimination. When we became citizens of this nation we received a warranty. We were guaranteed the right to vote; the right to due process; the right to be free, not to be enslaved, as long as we conduct ourselves in agreement with the laws of our nation; and the right to equal treatment under the law, regardless of our race, color, sex, religion, or national origin(Connerly, 1996). These rights were given to us as individuals, not as members of a group. Our nation has not always been a nation of fairness. We have evolved from times when certain racial groups were not afforded those same rights and were treated lesser than what the constitution states. Because of the color of our skin and the place we were born, some of us were denied these basic rights as Americans. When President Lyndon Johnson explained affirmative action to the nation, it is significant that he said, "You can't bring a man to the starting line who has been hobbled by chains and expect him to run the race competitively." Fairness dictated that the nation pursue affirmative action to compensate black Americans for the wrong that had been done. Affirmative action was a technique for jump-starting the process of integrating black Americans into the fabric of American society, for changing the culture of America from an exclusive society into an inclusive one (Connerly, 1996). I believe affirmative action was meant to be temporary. It was meant to promote equal opportunity and lessen discrimination. Once people of different ethnic backgrounds were afforded the same opportunities across the board, the program should have been abolished. Now let us leap frog into the future and look at affirmative action in the year 2012. Affirmative action has become the polar opposite of what it was meant to do. Affirmative action has become a system of reverse racism. When this nation began its use of affirmative action decades ago, America's racial landscape was rather clear. There was the dominant white majority and the oppressed black minority. Today, we have several dozen racial and ethnic categories across the continental United States. There is no dominant majority and there is no oppressed minority. Our racial tensions are no longer just black and white. Our racial diversity has a whole new set of problems that do not tie back to the old racial order. Affirmative action still operates as if the old order was still in place, as if our racial dilemma was still black against white. These preferences to minorities have caused a perception that if I am white, I and my kids will not have an equal opportunity to succeed. Ask the student who works hard for four years to earn a 4.0 grade point average only to be denied admission to Berkeley or UCLA in favor of someone with a 3.0, merely because UC wants racial diversity, whether she thinks we are being divisive. Ask the high-achieving black or Chicano student who works hard and gains entry to college solely on the basis of his merit, but who then must endure the nagging question of whether he was admitted because of affirmative action. Ask him whether he thinks it's fair that his accomplishments are devalued. Affirmative action is broken. We live in a time of equality and opportunity. Just because a certain ethnic group takes advantage of it more than another doesn’t meant that affirmative action should be the first line defense method for fairness.

References

Connerly, W. (1996). “With liberty and justice for all” Heritage Lecture, (560)

Dale, Charles V. (2005). Federal Affirmative Action Law: A Brief. CRS Report for Congress. RS22256 (1), 6.

Anderson, T. H. (2004). The pursuit of fairness, a history of affirmative action. Oxford University Press, USA.