http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700008867/Utah-to-end-affirmative-action.html
I came across this article and found it quite interesting. It is about a law that is being considered in Utah, and other states across the country, about no longer giving preferential treatment due to race or sex. The bill is also being backed by an African-American activist named Ward Connerly. I found this quote interesting by Ward Connerly, saying that affirmative "presuppose that minorities are disadvantaged by definition and whites are privileged by definition."
I want to see what ya'll think about affirmative action, if ya'll think it is still needed today, and how ya'll feel about this bill. Post Away!
Friday, February 12, 2010
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This will be an interesting discussion, especially when we get to the town meetings.
ReplyDeleteThe statement by Connerly:
"'Regardless of whence you came, you have a pretty good shot,' he said. 'Skin color is not one of the impediments that stand in people's way.'"
is, in my opinion, extremely subjective.
Affirmative action becomes a sticky issue when people feel that they are being helped or hurt because of the color of their skin.
I think Connerly is hoping that people will be judged, as Dr. Martin Luther King said, not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
However, ideal as this may be, race is still an issue, and always will be, because the way people look is just something the human mind uses to differentiate one from another.
Affirmative action, I feel, is intended to help have more diversity in all aspects of life, however, I disagree with the idea that the government should be monitoring this.
As cliche as this may be, many pro sports teams I watch have starting players who are one race--Imagine if they were told that this was an imbalance, and more players of a certain race were required to be starters...If race was more important than content, then the overall team would not be benefitted, and would actually be hurt in performance.
I personally hope that we live in a society that doesn't have to have the government mandating rules based on race.
And, especially considering how the government handled FHA and other items with returning GI’s who were black, that we as citizens don’t rely on the government to come up with all the answers, because history has proved that this isn’t always the case.
I don’t know if race will ever not be an issue, as Connerly would like to think, but I definitely disagree with the government dictating what it considers as being helpful or hurtful to different races.