Mean Affirmative Action In Admissions example essay topic

Affirmative action generally in the US means that companies try to promote candidates who are minorities. Affirmative action is needed for various of reasons. One is for class reasons. As long as blacks (or Hispanics or Native Americans, affirmative action is rarely employed for Asians) get significantly lower incomes than whites, and possess significantly less capitol, then they will always be a discrete, separate class.

Only when economic parity is achieved will the issues of racism be able to be realistically challenged. And until that time, affirmative action is needed. The second reason is for continued racism today. While Jim Crow laws have disappeared, subconscious (and conscious) racism still exists. White managers may be subconsciously inclined to think blacks aren't as intelligent as whites, and thus less likely to hire them for jobs. Or they may outright refuse to hire them.

Racial discrimination cases continue to be filed across corporate America. As long as this racism contributes to the detriment of minorities, affirmative action is needed. A third reason is retributions. African-Americans suffered for hundreds of years at the hands of whites.

Their economic condition, educational condition, cultural condition, and so forth were all impaired to the benefits of whites. Whites extracted labor, and kept them from advancing, to make them richer. Thus, the reason that blacks are poorer and so forth is because of white racism. Thus, race-conscious policies to correct this result of white racism are not racist themselves, just corrective.

To bring African Americans up to equality thus necessitates and justifies affirmative action. A fourth reason is tactical. Unfortunately, America continues to be a very segregated place. Thus, if we don't use affirmative action we have fewer black doctors, lawyers, and so forth that can help build and serve in black communities in which they reside.

Thus affirmative action is justified to deliver the necessary services to African Americans they so desperately need. A fifth reason is connections. The majority of jobs are not found in the classifieds or by applying at random or from a job fair. They are given and received via connections. Its who u know, not what u know.

Again, since America is so segregated, white people know lots of white people and black people know lots of black people. This is even further true when socioeconomic constraints are added as well. Rich people know few poor people and vice versa. Thus, it is next to impossible for a poor black person to have connections to a rich white person. Thus, companies should institute affirmative action policies to correct for this natural racist business practice they all employ. A similar argument exists for university admissions.

A current practice in elite US private universities exists such that children or grandchildren of people who attended that school are given preferential treatment in the admissions procedures (kind of like affirmative action for children of privileged people). Since most parents / grandparents and so on of elite university children are white, and many came from periods when the elite universities were either segregated or employed quotes to keep Jews, blacks, and other minorities out, it is basically like a mechanism to ensure the whiteness of the university. To counter-act that trend, affirmative action is definitely needed. A sixth reason is multi-cultural. In America, a black, urban culture, and a white, suburban culture, definitely exists. A strong argument for a successful corporation, or a desirable university, is a diverse, robust workforce or student body.

For instance, say you had an incredibly intelligent black student that a university was trying to convince to attend. But say that university had a black population of less than one percent. That black student may then be less inclined to attend your university. Indeed, it is a self-perpetuating cycle.

From back in the day, universities and corporations were segregated. While they no longer are today by law, that doesn't mean they are not segregated. To do that, you need to employ positive action to encourage desegregation, not just negative action removing segregation laws. While positive affirmative action can also include increased recruitment and financial aid for minorities, for instance, it can also mean affirmative action in admissions.

A diverse student body (or corporate work force) is also desirable. Instead of a homogenous, boring make-up a dynamic, diverse workforce can benefit from the varied cultures and backgrounds of each member. Thus to get this more desirable more diverse make-up, affirmative action is going to be a useful tool. Basically it comes down to this. Blacks today are much worse off than are whites. This is directly and undeniably the result of white racism, less so today, more so in past years, whose cumulative effects are definitely still held today.

As long as this situation continues, affirmative action will be justified to correct it.