The US Commission on Civil Rights defines affirmative action
as:
any measure, beyond simple
termination of a discriminatory practice, that permits the consideration of
race, national origin, sex, or disability, along with other criteria, and which
is adopted to provide opportunities to a class of qualified individuals who
have either historically or actually been denied those opportunities and/or to
prevent the recurrence of discrimination in the future.
Retrieved
from: www.aclu.org
Affirmative action was put in place to give equal
opportunities to minorities and women who were underrepresented in the
workplace. The goal is not to arbitrarily give jobs to unqualified applicants,
but to level the playing field for people who have been historically at a
disadvantage for employment. Over the years, affirmative action has expanded to
include veterans as well as African-Americans, Latinos, women, and others.
Although the term “affirmative action” has been in use since
the 1960s (www.aclu.org), many myths and misunderstandings persist and the
topic is still fervently debated (www.understandingprejudice.org).
Some of the myths include:
- Affirmative action has not succeeded in creating greater worker representation for minorities and females -- This is not true. Minorities and women have representation has been increasing in many industries since affirmative action was put in place.
- Affirmative action is no longer needed because the playing field is now level – Affirmative action is still necessary because women still make significantly less than men and African- American men have twice the unemployment rate of white men. There are still many areas that do not have very equitable distribution of jobs for the different members of society.
- Affirmative action doesn't have public support – Studies have shown that the public does still support affirmative action.
- White workers lose out with affirmative action – government statistics show that even if all African- Americans in unemployment were to receive a job, it is still a small percentage of the white workforce, so there could not be a huge impact on white workers.
There are many more listed that I could go into here, but I
think the point is clear: Affirmative action is still needed to help equalize
the playing field for minorities, women, and veterans to overcome the systemic
practices which have kept them from having an equal opportunity.
References
I agree that we still need AA to level the playing field as you explained. Many people disagree, but it is usually white people who just do not understand who balk the loudest. Nice that you dispelled myths and also had a link to tell more.
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