| Topic Name: |
NOW and affirmative action |
| Message Name: |
No "defacto" |
| Date Posted: |
12/09/1999 |
| In Reply To: |
Before you try to put an end to legal affirmative action, you need to end "defacto affirmative action".
This is the informal Affirmative Action (aka Good Ole Boy's Network) that has existed for 300 years. Surely you don't think all white males are in their positions simply because of their abilities? If so, I have a great investment for you. It spans Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Before you talk about ending Affirmative Action for minorities, you need to at least acknowledge that white males have the been and still are the GREATEST beneficiaries of 'affirmative action'. It is never called that, but nevertheless, it makes it easier for them to get the best jobs based on their race, gender and skin color. I call it 'defacto affirmative action.' In other words, it may not be a formal policy, but it gives white males preferences by 'default'. If you don't believe this exists, then you believe white males-- who occupy the top management jobs in Corporate America -- are inherently superior (smarter, harder workingt, etc.) to minorities and women, and that is why they are in those positions! Or, is it that you think they are there simply based on their numbers in the population? You do? OK. Let's look at percentages!
Yes. People should be judged on 'one's talents, knowlege and hard work'. That hasn't been the case for 300 years. A massive advantage passed on from father to son for white males-- wouldn't you say? Yes. You may not be connected or come from wealthy parents, but I can assure you, if you are a white male, when you walk through the door for your interview, that advantage precedes you. If only you knew!
So, before ending AA implemented to level the playing field, let's end the kind of affirmative action of which you you may have been the greatest beneficiary in the history of mankind. Perhaps I should say humankind. |
| Message: |
I must say, I am not impressed with your "defacto" argument. White males have a history of being innovative, and successful. From the invention of the printing press, the light bulb, the cathode-ray tube, to the first computer, it has been the work of white men that have lead us to a society of many conveniences and prosperity. Even our Constitution was an all-white, all-male accomplishment. This is not to say that whites are "better", but one must acknowledge and respect the accomplishments made by this ethnic/gender group. Were these "defacto" inventions? Give us white guys some credit. We cannot abandon our progressive and competitive nature. That is part of our "culture". You cannot expect to control the racial and gender proportions in today's institutions by force without creating your own injustices, hence preventing any possibility of racial harmony in this country. Affirmative Action seeks to control the outcome, but it is unjust because it masks what should be an obvious fact: that students emerging from these horrendous inner-city schools cannot possibly possess the skills needed to advance his/her ethnic group to those proportional levels that you desire. It is this "input" that needs to be addressed, so that the "outcome" can be left alone, thus restoring the freedom of the individual to achieve.
|
|
