Has Affirmative Action Outlived Its Usefulness?

According to the book, “All men are created equal” is perhaps the most well known phrase in the Declaration of Independence. Affirmative Action was established to improve educational and employment opportunities for minorities. In addition, affirmative action needs to be in place to ensure that minorities are considered for employment and education. Furthermore, this article will take the position that affirmative action should stay in place so that minorities have a chance to succeed in America.

Many students need the affirmative action to get into a good college. I don’t think that a minority with bad grades should be accepted in a college over a student with good grades. I think that a minority with good grades should be given a chance at a prestigious school. There is still some prejudice against minorities in college. For example, I attended a community college before a university and I wanted to major in Computer Information Systems. I had a counselor tell me to not to pursue Computer Information Systems because it was too much math. The counselor was a woman so I found it interesting that she would make such a comment. I don’t know if the woman made the comment because I was a woman or because of my race. Personally, I don’t know anyone that used the affirmative action for college but I know someone has to be using affirmative action since it still exists. Moreover, there was a need for affirmative action to be established at colleges for minorities so I don’t see any reason to terminate that policy.

There are some businesses that don’t employ a lot of minorities. It’s against Equal Employment Opportunity Commission policy to not employ someone because of their race or sex. There are some stereotypes that women should pursue certain jobs. For example, a woman should be a teacher or nurse. Fortunately, we live in a world that women are very powerful and succeeding at jobs that are out of society norm. For example, Hillary Clinton is a very successful woman and now she is running for president. Also, she is a Senator which is a position that a woman wouldn’t have been able to obtain a few years back. There was a point in time that minorities with college degrees were having problems finding a career and the affirmative action is suppose to stop this from happening.

In addition, I don’t think that affirmative action should just apply to black people. I don’t think that black people should get preference than any other race. I think that every minority should have a chance at using affirmative action not just one group. I always hear people complaining about affirmative action and how unfair it is for someone to get preference because of their race. Personally, I don’t know anyone that was given something because of affirmative action. Also, a lot of minorities that are in great schools and high position jobs had to work hard for those positions. Lastly, I’m afraid that if the Affirmative Action is abolish that opportunities will become limited for minorities. I would like to think that racism doesn’t exist in America but I’m not totally convinced that is a true statement.

Reference: Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Social Issues 14th ed. by Kurt Finsterbusch