Is Affirmative Action Ethical?

A634.4.4.RB

Use Chapters 5 and 6 (LaFollette, 2007) as the foundation for your reflections regarding if affirmative action is ethical. Be sure to include external sourced content. Present your opinion, support your opinion, and opposing viewpoints.

Affirmative Action was created during the 1960’s as a result of the Civil Rights Movement. The initial aim was to ensure disadvantaged minorities had equal employment and education consideration and opportunities (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2014). According to LaFollette (2007), “Affirmative action - the practice of giving special consideration to minorities and women in hiring and school placement” (p. 1366). Affirmative action demonstrated America’s leaders’ commitment to greater equality for minorities. Moreover, such policy has set the conditions for public and private organizations and institutions to begin adopting this practice. While requiring greater equality for employment and education is one thing, shifting society’s mentality and attitude about equality is still on-going today.

The need and support for affirmative action has waned over the past two decades. In fact, certain states have already banned affirmative action for public universities through voter referenda: California, Washington, Michigan, Nebraska, Arizona, and Oklahoma. Florida issued an executive order creating a ban signed by then Governor Jeb Bush and New Hampshire banned consideration of race through stare legislation (Potter, 2014). As the times have changed, so too has society’s view about racism, equality, and the value of merit.

I believe that the creation of affirmative action was an important and necessary step for equality. It forced establishments to recognize and address (internally) the opportunities afforded to those that fell into disadvantaged groups. Moreover, I believe that the original intent and spirt of affirmative action is outdated because of the subsequent laws supporting equality and society’s evolution (in general) of more equality for all. While there are many arguments for and against affirmative action, I feel that in today’s increasingly capable society, it prevents organizations and institutions from operating at an optimal level.

Typically, all organizations or learning institution have stated standards or admission requirements. The two I will point out are educational (college/university) and law enforcement standards. Universities attempt to recruit capable and prepared students. Indeed, there are many benefits that result from students that are prepared for higher learning, such as graduation rates and contribution to their respective fields. Thus, affirmative action as it was intended, would create an additional set of standards for those in a disadvantaged group because of the level of preparedness compared to the non-disadvantage group. Having two standards is dangerous and automatically creates the situation where the less prepared and capable are consuming the same resources those that have met the stated standards. The disadvantaged group wishes to be viewed as equal, yet they arrived at the same level as non-disadvantaged even when their skills may be completed different. Furthermore, would such additional standards be afforded to the same group(s) beyond an educational setting, for example, the “real world?” I do not believe so. In addition, many law enforcement departments have attempted to fill their ranks with officers representing the communities in which they serve. In doing so, these departments have discovered that many of the diverse applicants had physical, financial, and legal issues that would prevent their consideration according to existing hiring standards; to include basic education. “Similarly, the intelligence tests used to screen officers have produced different pass rates for different racial groups. To eliminate those differences, there has been a strong move to stop giving these tests over the last 30 years.” (Lott, 2005). Though law enforcement officers should not require an advanced education, it is vital given the nature of their work and interaction with the community that they possess applicable capabilities in the form of comprehension, analytical, and writing skills to name a few. Physical capabilities are also an important topic as an officer at any time may find themselves in a life and death situation and must respond accordingly.

I believe that affirmative action set important policies and legislation in motion, providing the support needed to give equality more traction. However, additional standards had to be created in order to accommodate those in a disadvantaged group. Thus, in an effort to create equality, it only highlighted the differences and open the gates for potentially less prepared individuals. Though this may have been needed at first, it may no longer be applicable as society’s views and attitude of equality has made significant progress that is still improving. Ultimately, if we are to begin seeing and treating others as equals, we must start limiting our willingness to see and classify everyone in groups. Having the proper capabilities and skills is now more necessary in today’s globalized world. Access to learning and support programs is more available today then every before. Thus, regardless of which group one identifies with, they have the potential to improve their personal and professional opportunities. Although this does not guaranty the same advantages as perhaps other well-off groups, it does prevent one from labeling or seeing themselves as disadvantaged. This frame of mind, in and of itself is important.

References

LaFollette, H. (2007) The Practice of Ethics. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.

Lott, J. (2005). Affirmative Action Has Mixed Results from Cops. Fox News. Retrieved from http://www.foxnews.com/story/2005/03/29/affirmative-action-has-mixed-results-for-cops.html

National Conference of State Legislatures. (2014). Affirmative Action Overview. Retrieved from http://www.ncsl.org/research/education/affirmative-action-overview.aspx

Potter, H. (2014). What Can We Learn from States That Ban Affirmative Action? The Century Foundations. Retrieved from https://tcf.org/content/commentary/what-can-we-learn-from-states-that-ban-affirmative-action/