do we still need AFFIRMATIVE ACTION?

31 replies · 6027 views · Started by Hahaha · Apr 2005

Hahaha

i dunno what yall think? be back with my responce... 8-) (nessa)>>>

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La · Apr 2005

#1 Reply

Yes. because equality still doesnt exist as it should. Until we have a perfect world, which we never will, we will need Affirmative Action to provide opportunities for employment. Not just for blacks, but other minorities, and women also.

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IgnoranceIsBliss from Dallas, TX · Apr 2005

#2 Reply

Can ducks fly? Can pigs eat? If racism and prejudice still exist then Affirmative Action should exist. Hell, half of the people trying to get rid of it are racist. WTF? They can still be racist but we can't try to get a job, this system and this society is ridiculous.

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Focused247 from San Dimas, CA · Apr 2005

#3 Reply

Yes...racism/prejudice will never end. So if you throw out affirmative action many oppotunities for minorities will be wiped out. Look how hard it already is to get by WITH affirmative action? How can you possibily consider it not to be a necessity?

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P o e t i q R e i g n from Greensboro, NC · Apr 2005

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MeganJerai wrote:
Can ducks fly? Can pigs eat? If racism and prejudice still exist then Affirmative Action should exist. Hell, half of the people trying to get rid of it are racist. WTF? They can still be racist but we can't try to get a job, this system and this society is ridiculous.

Focused247 wrote:
Yes...racism/prejudice will never end. So if you throw out affirmative action many oppotunities for minorities will be wiped out. Look how hard it already is to get by WITH affirmative action? How can you possibily consider it not to be a necessity?

THANK YOU. It is really beyond me how a person of ANY "minority" group could argue otherwise. You will often hear people say (as I know there will be some to do so in this thread) that they want to be considered for a job, not because of their racial affiliation, but for their skills, experience, and capability in the field. And trust me, I would like to be considered for whatever job I apply for the same things. However, THAT is NOT the reality of this country...unless you are of the "right" color. I just did a presentation on this a few days ago in my Current Issues in Mass Media class. I had to summarize a chapter on "race & ethnicity in the media" and then I chose to give my opinion about it. Half of the chapter was of a man who argues that the issue of the lack of diversity in American newsrooms and on media staffs is not as big a deal as it has been made out to be and that it is unfair to some people that diversity is forced down their throats, whether they want it or not. He said that particularly White males feel it is clearly a obstruction to democracy. The other half of the chapter consisted of aNOTHER man who argues that quite the contrary - diversity is VERY important in America, and yet it is so absent behind the doors of these places. He said diversity is very much needed in both the staffing and news coverage of these media entities. HOWEVER, he agrees that diversity should not be "forced," but should just come "naturally." He said that as he personally being an editor himself, he would hate to have to be "forced" to adhere to diversity policies. People should be able to do it on their own, voluntarily. THIS IS WHAT I SAY. The FIRST person's argument is B/S. America is SUPPOSED to be a country for EVERYONE. It is SUPPOSED to be a dag on "MELTING POT" (a concept I don't necessarily agree with...I think it should simply be a mixed salad....but anyway). The beauty of it is SUPPOSED to be that it is a land of the FREE and of EQUAL OPPORTUNITY - one of DEMOCRACY, the VOICE of the PEOPLE. So HOW could this country pride itself in all of these things, but still fail so miserably in having an accurate representation of the various cultures and ethnicities in the work force??? I even think it is B/S to say that each staff of every field should reflect the racial demographics of the country. There are supposedly 12% of Blacks, ACCORDING TO STATISTICS. Approximately 12%, give or take, of Hispanics. And other "minority" races fall below those numbers. Okay, it is a commonly-known fact that many people of the "minority" races don't even take that Census survey, so I don't even believe those statistics. I don't believe that there are only 12% of us in this country or 12% of Hispanics. And I believe that EVEN IF we were higher than them statistically, they would STILL feed us some b/s numbers like that, to continue having the already B/S title of "MAJORITY". But anyway...back to my point... Racial diversity is essential in a country like this. There are SO MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF RACES, but even the PRIMARY ONES (Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, Asian-Americans, and Native Americans) should have more equal representation in these places. So as for the first person's argument, I wholeheartedly disagree. As for the SECOND...I agreed with everything he said EXCEPT for his agreeing that diversity should NOT be "forced". BUMP THAT! Just like I told my class (and my professor, who happens to be White, lol), history in this country has SHOWN...PROVEN...that NOTHING gets done here unless some ARMS ARE TWISTED...some TOES ARE STEPPED ON.... Practically ANYtime change needed to occur...JUSTICE needed to prevail....and improvement was desired and strived for, it was all at the hands of SOME group of people or certain persons being FORCED to do so... Think about slavery....with the emanicipation of it, even though there were still people who practiced what they weren't supposed to, Whites were legally NO LONGER allowed to have slavery go on...or at least, not without pay and so forth. There were people at that time who disagreed with THAT "enforcement," but WAS IT NOT NECESSARY?!?!?!?! If people at that time weren't "FORCED" to give up that crude and inhumane act they had been accustomed to practicing for centuries, where would we be now?!?! And then Jim Crow...when that was outlawed, there are bus drivers who DISAGREED with being FORCED to allow Blacks to sit WHEREVER THEY WANTED on a bus.....or schools who didn't appreciate HAVING to let Blacks attend them....or to sit in the front of the classes... This country has always been stubborn as hell....and practically NOTHING (not even anything NOT related to "minorities" groups) has happened "naturally"....it has almost ALWAYS taken FORCE.... If affirmative action is removed...that will set us back probably 100 years, if not more.....because you have people who will NOT give us the same opportunities as Whites, despite our possibly surpassing qualifications, whether it is FORCED OR THEIR CHOICE.... and I know this may seem cliche, but it's TOO TRUE.....you have to ask yourself if people such as Condolleezza Rice and Clarence Thomas would uphold the positions they have...if affirmative action didn't exist? It is quite possible that they truthfully did receive their positions SOLELY for their QUALIFICATIONS... HOWEVER...it is NOT a reality in THIS COUNTRY...to IGNORE the possibility that QUALIFICATIONS is NOT the factor that landed them their positions....but instead, the meeting for a quota...and with these, the "powers that be" scored twice because not only did they meet a quota, but they pulled two who think almost exactly like them........wow, what a ironically clever decision THAT was.... and as for White males feeling "forced diversity" and "affirmative action" is UNDEMOCRATIC....to have race "quotas"...objectives...and agendas...that companies have to meet....i say to them GET OVER IT.... there are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many things about this nation that are "UNDEMOCRATIC"....there has NEVER been a moment in this country history that has demonstraded TRUE "DEMOCRACY"... AND if it weren't for certain WHITE MALES throughout history, we wouldn't even HAVE the issue of racial inequality, discrimination, and injustice in the work force or ANYwhere...in the FIRST place... THEY are the ones who sewed this madness.....and now they will just have to suck it all up and reap it....