What do you think about Affirmative Action? Explain why?
550856
i believe that it was needed before when black americans were not being treated fairly. they were not here by choice obviously. how ever now i do not agree with it because they have abused their powers. there is a quota in this country that there has to be so many black people working in a certain district like a fire man for example. there was one job left and the black guy had gotten a lower score on a test then the white man. how ever the black guy was given the job instead of the white man. that you could argue is reverse discrimination. the more qualified person should have the job. another thing that bothers me is remember back on the mtv awards show chris rock called white people crazy crackers. how ever if the white people had made racial slurs back they would be sued in a minute. there is no such thing as all white colleges, how ever there is such a thing as black colleges. many people feel the same way i do but are to afraid to say what they really think for fear of being labeled as a racis. my best friend is black and she feels the same way i do. it is time for american people to unite as one. fix this countries and stop making race an issue. its really getting old!
631863
slavery has impacted the u.s. by former slaves ancesters thinking they are still owed something today. affirmative action is the worst thing we as a country could've done and acknowledging a race which automatically singles one out from the american whole.  African American.  I don't call myself all my nationalities before american.  ex.  german, italian, irish american.  see what i mean.  then to have sepatory groups such as the naacp is bullshit.  african americans have it all going for them today but they're just to caught up in having to have the latest tommy shit (which who is as racist as the come) which shows the stupidity of race as a whole.  come on they recieve higher test scores and get reconized for acccomplishing less than the fellow american.  wake up america time to play cowboys and n........
319380
Affirmative action involves giving preferrential treatment to one group over another.  It isn't really any better than the Jim Crowe laws.\n\nThe irony is that people who believe in affirmative action, tend to do so on the basis of eliminating racial inequalities.  This is contradictory by nature.\n\nUnfortunately, racism and inequity will never be completely eliminated, by affirmative action or any other means.  You simply can not legislate away the opinions of others.\n\nIn the meantime, affirmative action gives fodder to those with racist agendas, and provides little if any benefit.  Not to mention that it necessarily means that qualified, deserving cantidates will miss opprotunities for employment and education based on their race.  Isn't this what we're trying to stop?
20855
The only way a law can level the playing field for a class of people is if it does not exsist.  \n\nIt sucks that people have inherint biases but the fact is that we all have them.  I am white and married a white woman.  I prefer white women.  All of my black friends married black women.  They prefer black women.  We (the human race) are prejudicial by nature.  Unfortunately, no law wil ever fix this. \n\nTo answer your question......No, I do not beleive in affirmative action.  Instead, I beleive that minorities that are under-represented in certain occupations need to try harder to make themselves valuable in those positions.  In most cases that means they will have to learn to properly speak the english language.
938614
I'm all for equal rights. What I'm against is special rights, like quotas or giving advantages in admissions & hiring based on race. Those types of things violate the equal protection clause. Political correctness has long ago reached the point of violating the 1st amendment.
393315
To me, affirmative action means that a job is not given to the person who is best qualified for the position, but to someone non-white who fills certain specifications of a quota that companies have to fill.  I know that the policy is designed to give people of ethnic groups an equal chance in the work-place, but I don't believe it is fair.  I believe it discriminates as much as non-affirmative action.
747173
Actually all people should be against affirmative action.  It creates unfair advantages.  In regards to your comment about it being harder to get good grades going to a bad school I have to disagree.  Going to a good school generally means a higher level of competition and a greater degree of scrutiny in the grading process.    By your reasoning if I was homeschooled by a moron uncle who gave me straight A's but did not teach me anything correctly admissions counselors should be more impressed by me than by someone who went to a highly competitive school with good instructors.\n\nMinorities get too many advantages through affirmative action.  I'm sorry if this offends you but it is true.  You should not want the special treatment given to you by these laws because basically what they are saying is that you aren't as good or as smart as a white person.  I think we both disagree with that and that we both would take that as an insult, you are in all likelihood just as smart and just as capable as anyone else.  But in reality that is exactly what the affirmative action initiatives are saying about minorities.  \n\nWhen special consideration is give to anyone because of the color of their skin or the country they were born in or for whatever reason they are going against the fundamental ideals upon which the country is founded.\n\nIts a matter of pride, I was born into poverty, I had no father, I had a mother that worked to support myself and my siblings.  We all got jobs as soon as we could and contributed what little we could to help us get by.  We refused welfare and charity out of pride.  We learned to work hard and to persevere and we have all become successful.  We went to the worst school imaginable and we had no special treatment because of our situation.  Yet we all went to college, we all worked our way through and we are the better for it.\n\nDon't buy into the hype that just because you are of a certain heritage that you need or deserve special treatment.  Don't sell yourself or your heritage short.  Be proud and stand up and demand equal footing not a hand up or a hand out.
958558
I agree 100%.  That was the entire problem with affirmative action--on the one hand non-whites cried and cried and cried that they wanted to be treated equally so when the government gave preferential treatment to non-whites they accepted it whole-heartedly (which was NOT for equality but for preferential treatment.)  Non-whites got into college with lower SAT and ACT scores simply because of their race.  When affirmative action was done away with here in California, the number of non-whites going to college fell way back down and now there are cries of racism by non-whites accusing the government of not giving non-whites preferential treatment.  Simply stated, non-whites want to get into college without having to work as hard as whites do.  If I were not white I would HATE affirmative action because it states implicitly that non-whites are simply too dumb to compete with whites.  \n\nMost ethnic holidays do tend to divide the culture a little bit, but not as much as you may think.  I don't think I've EVER met a Mexican who knows what Cinco de Mayo is even celebrating.  All they know is it a time to watch mom and dad get drunk on Coronas and play mariachi music until some non-Mexican neighbors can't take it any more and call the cops.  NO black person really celebrates Quansa and NONE of them have a clue what they are supposed to be celebrating anyway.  So I don't give those holidays much thought anyway.  But concepts like black-history month are definately preferential to blacks.  And as a white teacher it is a no-win situation.  If I DON'T teach special things during black history month, the black students ask me why I don't.  So then if I DO devote special time to teach about black heros or black issues then the SAME students ask me what I'm doing trying to teach blacks about THEIR culture--they ARE black.  They think that simply by being born black they somehow have innate knowledge about their history.  Believe me--they DON'T.  Neither did I have an innate knowledge of white history by being born white.\n\nIt is a volatile subject no how you approach it though.
339679
affirmative action is reverse discrimination
756027
Some Black students may feel it is necessary, but I don't. I didn't attend an historically Black college, and I don't regret it. I looked for the one that provided me with the education I needed to be successful in my field. I wanted the diversity because the world is diverse. I wanted to feel the same competition I would feel in the real world. If the HBC offers the best for your career choice, that should be the school you attend. My decision was educational not racial.
167623
Affirmative Action, started when employers had to look equally at a black person for employment.  Eventually it came to include all "ethnic" backgrounds.\n\nHowever if you found a job posting from a reservation and it said "preference to native ancestry" or something like that, it means that we would rather have a native working with our funds/jobs/services because they understand the issues better and we're tired of having non-natives tell us how to run our own forms of governments.
493696
Umm..... It could be because we promote equality while liberals promote the idea of separating us into racial classes (among other groupings) and judging based on those classes for employment, education, etc.\n\nI guess that I must be a racist because I believe that people should be judged on their credentials and actions.  After all, everyone that doesn't agree will all liberal policies and institutionalized discrimination (affirmative action) must be a racist because liberals can't come up with a valid arguement.  It is a hell of a lot easier to just go around calling people racist instead of weighing the issues in a mature manner and using common sense.
363518
Being a "white" man I hear what you are saying.\n\nAnd yes Affirmative Action is very controversial these days.  "White" men also miss many other government funded opportunities, like minority grants for starting businesses, etc. \n\nBut as a "white" man I must admit that I have many advantages others in our society don't have.  People throw jobs at me.  I have never been fired.  Police treat me with respect, and don't stop me when I walk down the street at night.  I can catch a cab in a bad neighborhood at night.  I have never been to jail.  Have never been suspected of a crime.  Basically I have had the ideal life, and the list goes on and on.\n\nI have never taken this for granted.  I have always worked hard, paid my taxes, voted, gone to jury duty, treated minorities with equal respect, etc.  I know that I have it better than most, and don't flaunt it by driving an expensive car or portraying myself as "better off".\n\nBut have I had these "extra" opportunities because I am "white", or because I have been give opportunities from my family and friends since childhood; I went to private schools, live in a rich city, have rich friends, have been taught manors, and know how to walk and talk, and earn others respect.  I was taught that communication is the most important aspect of any relationship.\n\nThe reality is that I have opportunities today because my family had given me opportunities growing up.  They were able to do this because they had money and love for me, and they learned from their parents how to be good parents.\n\nBut many people out there have nothing to give to their families.  They come from poverty.  Their kids go to crapy public schools in the inner cities.  Their parents beat them or are never home because they work three minimum wage jobs just to pay the rent.\n\nMany of these people are poor because their families were either exploited, enslaved, warred upon…………by families like mine.\n\nMy family enslaved "blacks" in the old days.  The companies my family invests in hold factories in third world country where workers are poorly paid.  My country has a history of exploiting, conducting wars, and economic takeover in foreign countries.  Most of the minorities in America come from these backgrounds.\n\nIf these people are not given a hand up they will stay down. And desperate people are expensive to control.  Desperate people commit crimes, they use drugs, and they don't care about others.\n\nThe problem is that there are poor "white" Americans too.  Should we not reduce Affirmative Action to skin color, but to financial status?  There are rich "blacks" that are given more opportunities than poor "whites".\n\nBut if we stop setting quotas for race, will poor "whites" get more jobs than poor "blacks"?  We can't afford not to make compromises, but I see that the system needs revisions.\n\nToo many right wing "whites" say that we are all given an equal chance in this country, and if you don't make it, it is because you are lazy or just stupid.  I say it is easy for the rich and whites to say such things.  Whites come from privileged backgrounds (not all, but many more than other ethnicities).  Racism still exists, and not just in Affirmative Action. \n\nBut a problem exist that must be fixed; poor whites are given less opportunities because they are white.
1022246
Affirmative Action was originally set up to help minorities get into college, get jobs, etc.
1049718
Affirmative action does nothing but legalize racism and discrimination for every race except whites and serves as punishment for slavery that ended 150 years ago.\n\nWhat is truly sad is that the slaves were prisoners from the inter tribal wars in Africa and were sold into slavery by their own people.\n\nSo in all actuality they have been pissed off for hundreds of years at the end consumer instead of their own people that sold them into slavery in the first place.\n\nBy the way, my ancestors came to this country in 1932 so quit treating me like my family enslaved your family.
751632
Yes, affirmative action should be eliminated from the entire country. It does not promote integration, it only serves to promote rascism by people objecting to the notion of being forced to integrate. Integrating and equal rights can only be done over the course of time. It will not happen over night and people cannot be forced to believe in something. As long as there are more than three people in t his world, rascism and prejudices of all types will occur, it is natural human behavior and no law can stop it.
901971
Affirmative action is used in many modern societies (although everyone always thinks it only happens in their own). I don't think it is a good idea, since any form of discrimination is unjust to some degree, but if people decide to adopt this as a temporary measure, I think it has a certain amount of validity. It should have a definite time limit, after which the matter should be consider rectified, and everyone moves on.