Abolish Affirmative Action

2 Pages 475 Words

Are we not all equal? Are we not all able to get an education? Then why is affirmative action needed? If we are equal and have the same skills why should a minority, certain race, religion or sect get a job over the average “Joe”? This is why I believe affirmative action should be abolished.
Affirmative action is a policy or a program that seeks to redress past discrimination through active measures to ensure equal opportunity, as in education and employment. It is called preferential selection, which means selection on the basis of race, gender, or ethnicity. It was introduced by president Lyndon B. Johnson’s Executive Order 11246, requiring employers to use “affirmative action” to make sure they were not discriminating. In doing this it may be forcing businesses to hire less qualified personel.
People may also cheat this system by taking advantage of a businesses obligation to affirmative action. People may fake indian heritage, hispanic, or african decent. An example of this is the University of Colorado which hired Ward Churchill. He became an associate member of the Keetoowah tribe by telling them he was an author who could help their people. To become a member of this Cherokee tribe it is required to have at least one-fourth Cherokee blood, but Churchill is believed to have less than one-sixteenth, which doesn’t qualify him as American Indian. The university had hired him, without any real qualifications, to fulfill their requirements. Now he is being charged with plagiarizing is work, threatening students and comparing victims of September 11, 2001 to the Nazi party.
Over the past few years, affirmative action has been under attack by those who claim that it is nothing more than “reverse discrimination”.
Given the situation where two candidates for college admissions or for a job or promotion possessed about equal qualifications, voters were asked whether or not any weight should be given to th...