Are Americans Ready to end Affirmative Action?
One thing that the election of Barack Obama has taught us is that America is not the racist country that the race hustlers like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton would have you believe and the election proved that. We are past race as a country, sure there are still racists out there but by and large America has come full circle. This is truly the land of opportunity and Barack Obama’s election has shown us that race is no longer the issue that it used to be.
But there still are racist policies out there, they hide under the guise of affirmative action. Affirmative action programs look at a color of a person’s skin and use that as part of the criteria for hiring people, and for accepting applications into college and has many other uses also. Are these policies still necessary? Do the American people believe that they are still necessary?
Recent votes in Nebraska and Colorado show us that the American people are ready to abandon affirmative action.
Voters in Nebraska approved a ballot initiative last week, 58 percent to 42 percent, aimed at eliminating government-sanctioned discrimination on the basis of race and gender under the banner of affirmative action. A similar measure in Colorado, however, went down by a narrow margin, 50 to 49 percent.
This following victories in tree other states in previous years.
The Nebraska victory follows on the heel of victories in California in 1996, Washington state in 1998 and Michigan in 2006.
And there are twenty more states preparing ballot initiatives for future elections on this issue. Americans seem to believe that it is time to end affirmative action. Affirmative action was a noble and needed cause at one time, but Americans are past the race issue. It is time to move on. It is time to truly judge a person on the content of their soul and not the color of their skin. Affirmative action does just the opposite. Affirmative action considers a person’s color to be more important than their qualifications.
America has moved past the race issues, America treats all people as equals. America is the land of opportunity, if it can be dreamed it can be done.
Anybody, ANYBODY, can succeed in America if they apply themselves.
It is time to end affirmative action.
America's Watchtower 
I think the premise of your argument is awful faulty. So if I am getting this right. If one black man makes it to the top that says that all black people are being treated equally.
So, we should end all benefits for the poor, because Bill Gates made it to become a billionaire means that everyone can become a billionaire without any help at all.
Unfortunately, I have been discriminated against since Obama has been on the scene. Is this somehow a fluke? Did it really not happen and I am just over sensitive. Just because a black person succeeds does not mean that racism has suddenly died.
That is ridiculous. You can take this approach with anything and most people would find it stupid except for when it is applied to racism. Somehow one person represents the entire black/white race relations.
No one looks at Hillary and Sarah Palin and say that the struggle for women rights is over because they have made it pretty far in their perspective lives. I just don’t see the logic in this assertion. Think again.
thanks.
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S. you are not ridiculous..the whole country voted, red, yellow, black and white and Obama won.
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even if the states do move away from traditional affirmative action, i wonder if there still might be a place for affirmative action based on class — some top education experts argue that our secondary school systems is based around “economic apartheid,” and that low-income students can’t succeed because they wind up at high schools without resources. so in theory, colleges should make an effort to admit more kids from disadvantaged backgrounds. that does wind up disproportionately benefiting certain minority groups, but it also benefits white kids who grow up in poverty.
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I am not saying that because one black man made it to the top that that means racism is dead. I said that racism still exists.I am using Barack Obama as ONE example to show that racism isn’t nearly as prevalent as it once was. Affirmative action had it’s time and place, it was a just cause, but in today’s America I find it hard to believe that a person wouldn’t hire the best person for a job based on his color. Maybe I an just naive but I think that America has moved way past that issue. Barack Obama didn’t just make it to the top, he was voted there by the American people, and that to me says that most Americans look at a person from the inside and not from the outside. If that is ridiculous than so be it.
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I heard a radio DJ, Anthony (particularly colorful guy, remember W.O.W?) say that he was driving in Manhattan at 4:30 am and a man with a bighooded sweatshirt on crossed in front of him when the light turned green. Anthony rooled down the window and said something, the man lifted his head and said “Obama the president now” . It happened to be a black man. So I would infer from this that the man was saying, we can do what we want b/c Obama won. So I guess affirmative action will be taken by the individual anyway.
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I guess I should be asking you where do you get your information that racism is not as prevalent. I guess it depends on which side of the racism you are on.
The problem I have is with this type of thinking. You say that racism still exists but not as much as it used to. You don’t think that people actually don’t hire based on race anymore (when they still do).
So if we go by this thinking, then we should start changing laws left and right. Hey, people don’t really put their children to work anymore so lets end laws against child labor. Affirmative action does not force people to hire minorities or women.
Also, Affirmative action isn’t just about BLACK people being discriminated against. It affects females and every minority out there. So Obama is NOT indicative of Affirmative Action.
And if like you said racism still exists, where does it exist if NOT the workplace? Do these racists not have jobs or jobs that hire people? Racists are everywhere and trust me a lot of them voted for Obama. Voting for Obama does not automatically make you non-racist.
And again MOST Americans don’t look at people from the inside that IS pretty naive. How often have you been the victim of racism? How often have you had to listen to, see, or read something racially insensitive whether it is your race or someone else’s?
Until you can say that ALL women, men, black, white or whatever are treated equally then something is necessary to even it up.
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Tara, if you read Thomas Sowell’s book “Inside Education”, one of his main theories against AA is that too many minority students are let into prestigious colleges where they are bound to fail because of poor High School preparation. He contends that they would have had a much better chance in another school, say a state university where the competition is not as stiff. He also contends that once they fail at Harvard, they do not go to a lesser school, but drop out completely, thus are wasted. Therefore, he is against affirmative action in scholarships.
As to Racism itself, it is still in existence, but much, much less than it was when I was a boy in the segregated South.
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Всех читателей с днем студента! 🙂
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