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Affirmative Action is Against the Bible

 

     America was known as the Land of Opportunity.  Then it became evident

that "opportunity" was only available to white men.  Later, laws were

passed to ensure equal opportunity regardless of race, sex, or religion.

These Affirmative Action laws were set in place by our government with the

intent of correcting the social evil know as prejudice; but in doing so,

they created a monster.  Affirmative action has become an ineffective,

outdated, and socially harmful policy that is weakening our great nation.

 

      "The adoption of Affirmative Action programs in the 1960s reflected

our national aspiration to overcome long-entrenched injustices and become a

society where equal opportunity, or at least a fair opportunity, was a

reality for more of our citizens. These programs were a response to

economic, political and cultural circumstances that demanded, then

encouraged, and then tolerated widespread discrimination on the basis of

such factors as color, gender and ethnic background. The common hope was

that these programs would be transitory in nature and would enable us as a

society to reach a point, at some future date, when they would no longer be

needed" (Shapiro).  It is my opinion that we have now reached that date.

Continued use of the policy is much like continued use of a strong

medication.  When a patient is suffering from a terrible disease, as was

the United States suffering from discrimination, strong medication is

sometimes needed to cure the problem.  But once the disease is taken care

of, further use of the medication does not help the patient, but actually

weakens them.

 

     Supporters of Affirmative Action feel that the problem is not taken

care of.  They feel that prejudice and discrimination is not eradicated and

therefore continued use of  Affirmative Action is required.  They are only

half correct.   Though it is significantly less than what it was twenty or

thirty years ago,  the problem of prejudice and discrimination is not

completely gone.  Continued use of Affirmative Action, however, will not

eradicate the small amount of discrimination and prejudice that is left; it

will only add to it.  Most of todays  adults and young adults are not

prejudice.  These two generations are significant because one is our

current work force and employers, and the other group will soon take their

place.  The people of these generations did not grow up in a house that was

prejudice so they did not learn to be prejudice as children.  But when a

young adult white male does not get the job he applied for or did not get

accepted to the university of his choice, and finds out that his spot was

filled by a less qualified or even equally qualified person of minority

status, because a quota had to be met,  resentment and ill-will is sure to

set in.  Had he not gotten the job simply because someone else was hired

instead, who happened to be a minority, he would not have taken it so

personally and would have continued his job search, but when he finds out

that he did not get the job because he was not a minority, then the seed of

discrimination begins to grow within him.  The policy is trying to create a

color-blind society by giving special treatment to certain groups of people

at the expense of other groups of people.  Could the policy be  any more

hypocritical?

 

       An intent of Affirmative Action was to provide special help to

groups that had been deprived equal treatment prior to the implementation

of the policy.  It gives minorities access to jobs, universities, and other

institutions that they would otherwise not have access to.  While this is a

good intent, it may not be the right thing to do.  When a person is only

expected to meet standards that are less than what the majority is expected

to meet, it can cause a inner feeling of inferiority or insecurity.  This

same conflict can be applied to those members of the majority.  Members of

the majority who meet the requirements set forth by an institution are not

going to value a member of a  minority who receives equal reward for

achieving lower level requirements.

 

     Lowering requirements is not the answer; working harder is.  This

statement can be applied to a broad spectrum of topics throughout all of

our lives.  Lowering requirements only lowers performance. Lowering

performance weakens us all.  When fire stations  must meet a quota for

women firefighters, and must lower their standards to do so, this only

lowers the ability and effectiveness of the firefighting team. Jobs like

firefighting, police officers, military combat soldiers, and countless

others,  require a certain degree of physical strength that is more

commonly found in men.  When one of these institutions is forced to give

some of these jobs  to unqualified people, regardless of race, sex, or

religion, it is dangerous for the unqualified person on the job,  and it is

dangerous for the public that the unqualified person is expected to protect.

 When the same situation is present in a place of business, and a company

is forced to hire two unqualified persons to do the job of one qualified

person, that business loses money and is that much more hindered in its

pursuit of growing and making our economy stronger.  Affirmative Action is

damaging.  A job should be awarded to the most qualified person, no matter

who they are.

 

     I've have attempted to show that Affirmative Action policies, as they

exist right now, are ineffective, outdated, hypocritical, and harmful.

Though all of these may be argued equally well by the other side, this last

point is indisputable.  Affirmative Action, no matter how it is explained,

rationalized, justified, or disguised, is discrimination, and therefore

wrong.  Discrimination is defined as: "Treatment or consideration based on

class or category rather than individual merit; partiality or

prejudice,"(Webster) and that is exactly what Affirmative Action is.  No

matter what the problem is, or how bad a situation is, doing something that

is wrong can never be the right course of action.  This is an ideal that

has always been true, but is quite often broken, resulting is negative

effects and more problems.  A course of action that is morally wrong,

ethically wrong, and economically wrong, is not the correct way, but an

easier way.  Often, the correct way is more difficult and requires more

work, but nevertheless, it is the correct way.  Two wrongs do not make a

right, but they do make more problems and prolong an actual resolution to

the problem.

 

 Works Cited

 

Shapiro, Harold.  "Affirmative Action:  A continuing discussion / A

continuing commitment"  Internet Source.  Available at:

http://humanitas.ucsb.edu/projects/aa/docs/shapiro.html

 

Websters Dictionary  Harbor House Publishers Inc.  Baltimore.  1984