Equality of results does not match up with equality of opportunity in America. Why can't it?
554371
In the U.S.A. you have the right to pursue your dreams. Your dreams are different from other people's dreams so obviously you will end up with different results. We are not guaranteed equal results. I purposefully have pursued my own dream. And I have come up with better results than some and worse than others who have pursued the same dream. Maybe it's because of competition. Competition makes you stronger. Stronger is better.
89906
The West values freedom and equality as two of our foundational principles.  (See the Declaration of Independence for an example of those principles defined.)  And yet, Jim Crow laws, which legalized segregation and deprived blacks of their civil rights in voting, education, public transportation, etc., were the antithesis of equality, and for blacks, freedom.  Therefore, the fact that segments of our society fought so hard to retain these laws revealed a dichotomy in our attitudes toward equality.  "All men are created equal" said the Declaration, "but some are more equal than others", Jim Crow told us, in essence.
598024
Men and women are not equal but neither is superior. I know that sounds almost contradictory and I suppose it might be if you narrow it down to specific areas such as physical strength. But overall I think it is a valid statement. It is like the ancient Chinese idea of Yin and Yang, 2 halves of a whole. To say one gender is superior to another is really comparing apples and oranges.
1173605
There is no doubt that negros and women are not treated equally in the US labor force. But forcing a company to hire a set amount of each is crazy. The job should go to the person who is most qualified.
623187
Yeah... the whole "opportunities available to everyone" statement is a bit of a joke.... it's hard to succeed when you go to a school that doesn't have a decent book, teacher or administrator... and that's not counting any social issues at home, like one parent families and little to no respect for education at home, because the family never learned the value of education...  \n\nand that's not even getting into the racism in the workforce or upper education... most of the managers out there grew up before the civil rights movement... of course some will still hold on to the racist attitudes they grew up with...\n\nit's not easy to break out of a poor social class, usually only the brightest 1 percent do...\n\nLazy is most often used to make the wealthy feel better about being wealthy... a convenient excuse to not help those in poverty... everyone who has been in poverty knows that many of them work, often two and three jobs, for often 12 or more hours a day... \n\nI know some wealthy people... they don't work nearly that hard and are much closer to being lazy than those I know who are in poverty... I don't know any poor people that take off early on friday to hit the golf course to get in 18 before the sun goes down... I know a lot of wealthy men who do though....
1067915
AMEN! \n\nI am sick of special programs for minorities. Where is the scholarship for the white boy who grew up poor? Certainly he has a much harder time in life than any rich minority.\n\nIf people want to be treated as equals, then they must eliminate the programs that allow them special privileges. Until I see minorities protesting against hiring quotas, hate crime laws, and other such racist things, they will not be seen as "equals". The government has many laws telling me that they are not equal to others, so how can I argue that point?
137746
Equal opportunity is a descriptive term for an approach intended to give equal access to an environment or benefits, such as education, employment, health care, or social welfare to all, often with emphasis on members of various social groups which might have at some time suffered from discrimination. This can involve the hiring of workers and other such practices. Social groupings generally emphasized in such a way are those delineated by aspects of gender, race, or religion.\n\nEqual opportunity practices that are race-blind or gender-blind may be distinguished from practices that involve or require affirmative action or reverse discrimination. The United States federal government and various state and local governments require affirmative action in terms of governmental hiring and contracting; many other countries make such action illegal.\n\nIn developing countries, equal opportunity is best provided by creating jobs accessible to poor people. Economic studies suggest that this is achieved by reducing barriers to entry and allowing entrepreneurial activity.\n\nThe method of providing equal opportunity is often a subject of controversy, as is the means by which to measure the success or failure of equal opportunity policies. Opportunity itself is often difficult - if not impossible - to accurately measure. Thus, in practice, equal opportunity is said to exist when people with similar abilities reach similar results after doing a similar amount of work. In other words, equal opportunity is measured by the degree of equality of outcome that it generates. Indeed, equal opportunity and equality of outcome are often seen as complementary. For example, as long as inequalities can be passed form one generation to another through gifts and wealth inheritance, it is unclear that equality of opportunity for children can be achieved without greater equality of outcome for parents.\n\n\nMale\n\n\nFemale\n\n\nDivorced\n\n\nThe Association of American Publishers (AAP) is the largest trade association of publishing companies in the United States. Its members are principally book and academic publishers.\n\nThe AAP serves many public relations functions, but perhaps its most notable role is lobbying for stronger copyright laws; its chief opponents are therefore libraries and consumer organizations.\n\nThe present head of the AAP is former Colorado Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder.\n\nThe AAP is also engaged in standardisation efforts in document preparation.\n\n--OR--\n\nAllied Administrative Publication
794500
Theres no such thing, because each US state (& then there's the US national standards) & each country have their own educational standards. You can't compare worldwide because of economic and cultural differences. Usually there are some very good schools in metro areas, but there's always the downfall of them being huge and overcrowded even though they have an abundance of resources. Suburbs and rural areas are sometimes the place to look. The circumstances vary so much from person to person and school to school, that that's why so many schools exist --- to harbor everyone's needs.
333640
Gender Equality is a complex issue. \n\nSocially the pendulum has swung far enough in some areas that men are discriminated against.  Many groups who wish to limit their membership to men-only for whatever reason are torn apart in the media and often penalized by the judicial system while similar groups limiting their membership only to women have nothing to worry about.  Fathers are often discriminated against in custody disputes; they almost always must prove themselves to be outstanding in every way to compete with their spouse.   Women convicted of inappropriate sexual conduct with minors are often given a slap on the wrist whereas men breaking the same law face 15-25 years of hard time.  Women of all ages have an easier time at gaining college grants and loans over males of similar ability and socio-economic background.  The list goes on.\n\nWomen on the other hand still face prejudice in many parts of the workplace.  Often having an especially hard time breaking into management positions and serving as law enforcement officers.  Many companies fail to give women adequate maternity leave causing an increased health risk.\n\nSo do I believe women have achieved equal status with men in American society? Socially and legally I think women now enjoy more rights and opportunities than men receive.  In the workplace and religious institutions (these especially) men still hold a distinct advantage.\n\nWhat bothers me the most are people who don’t recognize the complexity of the issue and simply whine about how unfair it is for women and how relative equality will never happen.  It promotes an oversimplification and encourages people to promote a since of victimization which for some people becomes a self fulfilling prophecy (a self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that, in being made, actually causes itself to become true).\n\nBest Regards,\n\nArmus
411012
Just as slavery was accepted, but morally bankrupt when compared to the phrase " all men are created equal", affirmative action is accepted by some, but morally bankrupt.  Equal opportunity for all should be taken at its face value, not perverted to raise one group of people over another.
794402
I think you misunderstand affirmative action.  People are not hired or admitted to college solely on the basis of their race or ethnic background.  They still have to be qualified for the position, or have the grades to qualify for admission.  But if there are two qualified applicants, and one of them is under-represented in the work force or in the educational setting, then the "minority" candidate is to receive preference.\n\nYour attitude demonstrates how far we have to go in this country to eliminate racism and prejudice, because you assume that a person of color who holds a prestigious position got there not because they were intelligent or worked hard, but because they somehow sneaked in.  How insulting.
787526
No.  Anyone who tells you otherwise lives in a bubble or is blinded by racism.\n\nThere are many people who work very hard and are not rewarded.  There are people who do nothing who advance quickly based on who they know.  You will be rewarded in life according to how well you are favored by those who have power over you.  We do not live in a pure meritocracy.  If we did, would a C-student, former frat boy, drunk-until-age-40, ex-male cheerleader currently be our President?\n\nWomen on average still earn less money than men for the same job.  Just because laws don't explicitly forbid certain things, that does mean everyone has equal opportunity.  For example, the Constitution doesn't say that only white men can be President, but only white men have ever actually been President.  Women couldn't even vote until the early twentieth century.\n\nToday gay people do not have equal opportunity to marriage and the associated tax benefits.\n\nIf everyone had equal opportunity in the USA, 90% of the wealth would not be controlled by less than 10% of the population.\n\nI am a heterosexual white male.
1134014
I think you misunderstood about the meaning of equality here.\nIt simply means nobody is to be discriminated because of his/her sex. It never said that everybody has to be equal in the sense of identical. \nIn other words, to make it more clear what is really meant:\nTreat EVERYBODY equally regardless of any aspect. \nBecause we all know that there are no humans that are 100% identical, not even identical twins...
855737
The educational system in the United States has gone down hill since the 1960’s when the emphasis shifted from Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Science and History to socialization and political correctness. It also has to do with the Federal Government taking the power away from local school boards. The government changed the focus from education to integration and I am definitely not against equal rights and opportunities for all races of people. \n\nDo all children in America need to be taught the same things? I think not. Schools were better run by local boards that could take action quicker without going through a hundred levels of Federal bureaucracy. Most schools in America today are more concerned about students sitting quietly than they are in the education of our children. The education level of children graduating from high school today is a national embarrassment. We should all be ashamed for what we have let happen to our schools. The best way to correct this is to give control back to the communities. Maybe there should be some minimum standards of performance, but that should be the extent of it. Does the Federal government really belong in the class room? That is the real question the country needs to take a hard look at.
1066462
I think the ideals behind Communism were well-intentioned, but it just doesn't work. You can't force people to be equal. It's just never gonna happen. Nature is created in such a way that there is a natural heirarchy/order to things. Someone is always going to end up on top and someone is always going to end up at the bottom.
426604
Our system is capitalism.  That means you have more money if you rise.  You earn more.  Which means you can drive a car with air conditioning, your kids can go to the doctor when they are sick and you can afford the medicine prescribed, your spouse can stay home with the kids instead of day care, you can have vacations, high speed internet, digital camera, cotton clothes, warm water out of the tap, and the finer things in life.  People who want those things will try to rise...because of the economic and social advantages.  The idea here is equal OPPORTUNITY.  Everyone has the chance to work hard, or not.  Your results will be partly based on your effort, just like grades.  Trying for an 'a' is not doing anything bad to the other students who may only be trying for a 'c'
506838
its just because your skin. but there are more states and countries that treat equal opportunity to white, yellow, gold, green and black people, dig?