Let me ask you.......why are you so concerned when by all demographic measures whites have it better in this country then compared to people of color?
Because I'm not much concerned with which race has it better. I am concerned with individuals being treated fairly. If individuals are not being treated fairly they we should concentrate on working towards fair treatment for those individuals (esp. if it is the government treating them unfairly). If individuals are treated justly and have a high degree of freedom but statistically some groups of individuals have less success then others then it is not a major issue with me. I'd prefer that racial classification be something that no one cares about anymore. Different white groups like Italians and Polish used to face discrimination, now few people care. No on talks about discrimination against blondes or people with green eyes. I would like to see skin color treated the same way.
There are many of us who feel the same way. Unfortunately, there are others who don't agree. The whites are the predominate race in this country. There have been laws passed that prohibit discrimination against all races. Those laws are not obeyed as evidenced by demographic statistics.
Also because I don't want employment decisions and other similar decisions that could be affected by AA to become an inter-racial political fight for benefits. They should be made on merit not on who did better in the last round of an inter-racial turf war. If AA decides them you get less qualified candidates and a constant fight over who should get how much benefit for what reason.
As TigerPaw pointed out in his post, AA is one way to even out years of neglect and wrongdoing. If you have a better way that accomplishes the same goal, I would love to hear it.
That's why they fought for civil rights laws. Because of underlying prejudice, whites don't like to have to compete against blacks..
Some perhaps but most don't mind as long as the blacks don't get bonus points for skin color.
that's what racial prejudice is all about; it makes sure that certain peoples are excluded from the general benefits of society.
If prejudice is excluding certain races or other groups of people from the general benefits of society then it doesn't exist anymore. A person in any racial group benefits from society and can get a high position in it with or without AA.
You are being naive......its simply not true. The glass ceiling exists for a number of minority groups. AA is the only way I've seen that insures all groups get a piece of the pie.
What does still exist is that individuals, perhaps a very large number of individuals, are treated unfairly because of their skin color. That's wrong, but AA is an example of the same thing being applied to a different group (or in a few rare cases its even applied to benefit white people where they are supposedly underrepresented at the expense of blacks or others).
AA is not the same thing. Oftentimes, racism exists without the victim knowing it exists. There are unwritten rules. Comments are made behind the scene. And it exists in every strata of this society from the most liberal parts of the country to the most conservative. It will take generations to overcome the need for prejudice in this country.
Not in my experience.......most white guys don't want gov't work if they can help it.
1 - AA doesn't just apply to government workers.
I was talking about gov't contracts.....local, state, and federal.
2 - The majority of government employees are white.
" In the worst cases it can directly hurt the people who "benefit" from it by moving them in to positions that they really are not qualified for or hurt others by putting less qualified people in important positions. "
I believe you are reflecting a bias......and I'm not going there.
Its not a matter of my bias its a matter of AA causing a bias. If AA was put in place to favor white people then you would get unqualified or less qualified white people on the job.
What about the incompetent white people who are put into positions because they are a part of the ole boy network? Why are conservatives so concerned with only minorities and AA? Why don't you clean it all up?
Any time you consider race to be part of the qualification rather then just hiring (or accepting for a position in a university or whatever) based on merit you reduce the quality of the workforce.
That's true and it happens every day in this country with both whites and people of color.
Its not a matter of me thinking that blacks are less qualified, whatever group you favor with AA will have more non or under qualified people getting the position.
Why? The two things don't follow.
But even if they did, it still does not change the fact that if it weren't for AA, there are competent people of color that would never have been considered for a particular position. The fact that AA forces people to consider them is a very good thing for this country. I am sorry you don't see the wisdom for structuring things in this way.
Unfortunately, Mr. Bush agrees with you and is telling the Sup Ct how to rule on this issue. Aside from the fact he is overstepping his bounds, it will be very bad for this country if a conservative Sup.Ct rules against AA and encourages its dismantlement.
ted |
