Affirmative Action Has It Run Its Course Essays - Social Inequality

Affirmative Action Has It Run Its Course It is a mistake to assume that the Negro, who had been a slave for two hundred and fifty years, gained his freedom by the signing, on a certain date, of a certain paper by the President of the United States. It is a mistake to assume that one man can, in any true sense, give freedom to another. Freedom, in a larger and higher sense, every man must gain for himself. Booker T. Washington In his Autobiography The problem in a realistic model of Affirmative Action is due to the history, political evolution and complicated definition. Affirmative Action as such has never been a law or even government policy. Affirmative Action has been comprised of a series of executive orders, governmental programs, civil rights laws, and enforcement of equal opportunity practices. The basis for Affirmative Action dates as far back as, the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which stated all persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall have the same right in every State and Territory, to make and enforce contracts, to sue, be parties, give evidence, and to the full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of persons and property as is enjoyed by white citizens?( Marable, 4). Then in 1941, F.D.R. signed Executive order 8802, which outlawed discriminatory hiring practices by defense related industries holding federal contracts. Subsequently President Truman formed the Government Contract Compliance Committee that advocated the Bureau of Employment Security to act confidently and in a positive manner to execute the guiding principle of nondiscrimination in its role of placement counseling. Therefore the word Affirmative Action was not used until President Kennedy's executive order 10925 in 1961. The basic idea to eliminate prejudices has been around for over a century. I believe that when President Kennedy established Affirmative Action it was a necessary and crucial piece in helping the Civil Rights Act. Now 39 years later, I feel that it is outdated and allows prejudices to continue. Although the initial purpose of affirmative action programs was to give more blacks access to the job market, statistics indicate that the major effects of such race-preferential policies has been a redistribution of black workers from small and medium sized firms to large companies and federal jobs. Black unemployment rates have remained twice those of whites (Samuelson). I feel that affirmative action policies failed to do what they were intended to do, but they have often provided opportunities to abuse the system. Opportunism disguised as affirmative action has extended across racial and political boundaries. Those who have taken advantage of this include the former black mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, Henry Gantt, as well as white executives such as President Reagans labor secretary, Ray Donovan. When Donovan was brought upon charges that he had set up a facade of minority ownership for a company he owned, they were dropped by the judge who cited prevalence of the practice (Woodson, 114). The focus on race-preferential policies has had damaging consequences more than the opportunism it has generated. These policies assume that race is a disadvantage, and that this is justification for compensation by white society. Before something can be a compensation it must first be a benefit (Sowell, 420). Sowell goes on to describe that the income of blacks comparative to whites reached its peak before affirmative action hiring and has declined since. The median income of blacks reached a peak of 60.9 per cent of the median income of whites in 1970. This was a year before goals and timetables became a part of affirmative action (Sowell, 419). These race preferential policies are allowing people to not take responsibility for their actions. It allows them to rely on the system rather than being motivated and determined. I think that the system has failed minorities and women because of the perceptions others may have of them and it then raises questions in their own minds. Was I really the best-qualified candidate or did they need to meet a quota? Many people in the workplace question the manner in which their jobs were obtained. I feel that it has to be degrading to feel as if you did not deserve the job