Affirmative action refers to a situation where an organization or government uses its resources including money and time to eliminate all forms of discrimination that may be exercised among the minority. The government or an organization enacting affirmative action comes up with policies for giving special treatment to the minorities such as children, women, and other underrepresented groups. Affirmative action is not only exercised to eliminate discrimination but also to set right the effects of discrimination that have been experienced in the past. The government employs such initiatives with the aim of increasing and expanding opportunities for less privileged citizens. Besides the existence of the expected benefits of affirmative action, it is undeniable that affirmative action has resulted in opposing views from the opponents and the proponents of the policy. In most cases, the effectiveness of affirmative action is questionable by a majority of the people who have come across this policy. Based on the blames against affirmative action, it is evident that this policy should be terminated.
Affirmative action leads to reverse discrimination in its operation because it discriminates majority of the people especially those categorized as privileged groups. The initial objective of creating affirmative action was the creation of a level field where every individual has an equal right of succeeding in society. Despite the existence of this policy, in reality, affirmative action does the opposite. Affirmative action tends to favor the minority groups and exercise discrimination against the majority groups. For example, the white students despite having good grades find it challenging to occupy some positions in colleges and universities because some vacancies exist only to be filled by students of color (Oppenheimer, 1988). Imagine a situation where a male student has worked so hard to gain admission to a particular university and pursue a specific degree the individual loses the chance just because he is not in the minority categorized groups. From this view, it appears that affirmative action exists to favor groups of people at the expense of the other individuals.
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Affirmative action should be abolished because it tends giving rewards to the wrong people in the society. According to Crosby et al., (2006) affirmative action tends to undermine the intended beneficiaries by promoting stereotype because majorities of the people who benefit are those who would otherwise not rise to that particular position unless they gain support. For example, consider a situation where an unqualified student takes an opportunity for attending a college just because admission grades are lowered. In such a case, the person will secure a chance of achieving higher education skills, and if the same benefits are extended to the workplace, it will show that an organization receives unskilled labor force. The initial policy was set with an objective of compensating people who had experienced discrimination in the past and avoid the current disadvantages. However, the recent affirmative action extends the benefits to all people categorized as minority thus filling colleges and organizations with an unqualified team.
Affirmative action tends to create significant racial tension in the society characterized by the presence of many court cases filed by people who think that this policy exposes them to discrimination (Zinn, 2015). Since affirmative action went into force, a majority of the cases filed complain about elimination in schools and workplaces. A perfect example is the case of baker a male student who was denied the opportunity of gaining admission to the University of California just because the remaining chances were preserved for the black Americans. From this view, affirmative action adds burden to the government because college admission and job positions should be left for people to compete reasonably based on individuals qualification. Additionally, affirmative action tends reducing individual’s struggle to succeed because the set policies guarantee success without struggling.
Affirmative action has been effective in handling cases of discrimination that existed in the society in the first. However, in modern society, such challenges do not live because people have changed their way of doing things. The practices, especially in marriage and general way of life enacted by individuals in the United States, remain irrelevant in modern society (Zinn, 1980-2005). As a result, there is a possibility that affirmative action pretends to solve problems that do not exist in the real world. For example, this policy pretends to protect the majority of women who stand a high chance of experiencing divorce thus exposing women to great opportunities for poverty. According to Miller, (2014) the issue of separation had been high in the 1970s and 1980s, but with the increased evidence of late marriages, effects of divorce have significantly reduced. The proponents of affirmative action tend suggesting that there is a need for enacting the policy with an objective of protecting women from domestic violence which contribute to the rising cases of discrimination. In this case, the problems associated with marriage are historical meaning that they are no longer in existence in the modern society thus making affirmative action policy (Wood, 1971). Since the problems that affirmative action perpetuates to be solving do not exist, the system should be terminated in an attempt of reducing the adverse effects that result from the affirmative action.
Affirmative action acts as a way through which people get an opportunity to create social division in society. The implementation of the policy focused on ensuring that there is a reduction of the gap between the majority and minority in the community. The proponents of this policy acknowledged the division that existed between the blacks and the whites, men, and women and believed that the only way would be coming up with affirmative action policy. The consequences especially the social effects have resulted in changes in the society which occur in its criticisms. For example, during the period when Christianity had an opportunity of deciding the couples capable of marrying, families remained intact and the courts, as well as the society at large, acknowledged the importance of marriage licenses. According to Coontz, (2007) the idea of taking marriage as a private affair has resulted into significant divisions in families where most of the youths ranging from 25 to 29 years have children, but they are not living in a recognized marriage.
Affirmative action policy should be terminated because it has little impact on the minority groups that it seeks to protect. The primary objective of affirmative action is to ensure that vulnerable groups rise to a level where they have equal chances of playing with privileged individuals. Through this process, there is a possibility that the government acts a policy that is of less help to the people because it tends to lower the standards and self-accountability among the members of the target group. For example, women will always relax and wait for a situation where the government sets some positions that are exclusively established for the feminine rather than struggling to achieve higher goals. According to Truth, (1851-1863) women will always believe that it is the responsibility of the government and feminists to protect their rights and ensure that they succeed in the community. This expectation has a significant impact on reducing the talent and skills that would be productive in a country.
Affirmative action should be terminated because the consequences of the policy do not serve the primary objective for which the tool was designed to handle. Majority of the minorities are victims of discrimination even in modern society. For example, according to Trethewey, (1966) in the story entitled the letter home, there is an expression of some form of discrimination exercised by young white boys against a black boy. This argument indicates that affirmative action is yet to achieve the set objectives of bridging the gap between the whites and the blacks. The story of Polly Baker who experienced fines and charges determined by the court for having children outside the wedlock shows a significant level of discrimination against women (Franklin, 1747). If affirmative action succeeded in achieving its objective such problems would have been reduced, and both Polly Baker and the man should have experienced charges. According to Fern, (1852) the young women who are married at a young age end up living miserable life suggesting the failure of affirmative action in achieving its set objectives.
In conclusion, affirmative action is of less importance in modern society, and there is a need for terminating this as a government policy. The consequences of this policy violate the intentions of the primary objectives because it promotes reverse discrimination, the problems it claims to handle still exist in the community, reduces standard and accountability, and it leads to the creation of social tension. Though the proponents of affirmative action suggest that the policy reduces discrimination, the only effect of the plan is changing the direction of discrimination from the whites to the blacks giving a chance for blacks to undermine the existence of whites.
References
Coontz, S. (2007). Taking Marriage Private.
Crosby, F. J., Iyer, A., & Sincharoen, S. (2006). Understanding affirmative action. Annual Reviews.
Fern, F. (1852). Hints to Young Wives. Fanny, F. (1852). Hints to Young Wives.
Franklin, B. (1747). The Speech of Polly Baker. Benjamin, F. (1747). The Speech of Polly Baker.
Miller , C. C. (2014). The divorce surge is over, but the myth lives on
Oppenheimer, D. B. (1988). Distinguishing five models of affirmative action. Berkeley Women's Law Journal, 4-42.
Trethewey, N. (1966). Letter Home.
Truth, S. (1851-1863). Ain't a Women. Ohio.
Wood, A. D. (1971). The" Scribbling Women" and Fanny Fern: Why Women Wrote. In American Quarterly Vol 23 No 1 (pp. 3-24)
Zinn, H. (1980-2005). A People’s History of the United States. In Chapter 6- The Intimately.
Zinn, H. (2015). In A people's history of the United States: 1492-present. Routledge.
