Affirmative Action Pros And Cons Essay

Affirmative action has been a controversial topic ever since it was established to right past wrongs against minority groups, such as African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics. The goal of affirmative action is to integrate minorities into public institutions, like universities, who have in the past been discriminated against in such environments. Even after all these years since it has been first introduced affirmative action is still a strongly debated topic. In this discussion, I am going to compare the pros and cons to show you my opinion about this topic.
Proponents claim that affirmative action is necessary to obtain some much-needed diversity in universities and workplaces. Furthermore, students who have been admitted to the university …show more content…
Racial quotas preclude the best applicant for the position from being hired. An example of this is the military, where because of the women quota, men who are physically and mentally more capable are rejected to appease the demands that affirmative action puts on the military. Also, the argument made by proponents that affirmative action is necessary to obtain diversity is easily refuted with the question: What happens when times change and discrimination as an issue has been eliminated? The legislation, once voted in, is hard to remove and the controversy surrounding the topic will make sure that it is going to be a long a drawn-out process which in turn will lead to people being favoured even though, objectively, they do not need help anymore. The last and most important argument is that affirmative action confirms stereotypes and validates racism. People who are given a position purely because of affirmative action often are not qualified to fill that position, and because of that, the idea that all people of that race/minority must be stupid is perpetuated. Also, it presupposes that people of a different skin colour are from class, and therefore need