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> why is it a bad thing to acknowledge that and try and fix it? I think the main objection against this kind of affirmative action is that you can't make up fo
by adwn 4y ago
> why is it a bad thing to acknowledge that and try and fix it?
I think the main objection against this kind of affirmative action is that you can't make up for discrimination against one group by discriminating against another group: None of the young, white (and Asian) students that are given a disadvantage today were responsible for the discrimination against black people decades ago – they weren't even around back then.
That's the ethical argument. There's also possibly [1] the economic argument, that this kind of affirmative action is inefficient, i.e., it doesn't fix systemic discrimination, or that all in all it creates more harm than good.
[1] I don't know if that argument is true, but I could see someone making this point.
- csunbird 4y ago(warning: unpopular opinion) I would like to point out that, affirmative action does create harm, as it tarnishes the image of people legitimately got selected and got in to the college/program, as there will always be the question in the air: "Did they got in because they are qualified or because of color of their skin?". Also, people who weren't selected because they are not in the affirmative action group will always have the doubt that they weren't selected because of their race/skin color and this always will fuel racist thoughts. Fixing discrimination with discrimination is not a good idea: two wrongs should not add up to a right. We should fix the systemic issues that cause people in to be in the situation where they are discriminated against, even although it is going to be slow.
- virgildotcodes 4y agoAre these harms, substantial or not is up for debate, outweighed by the benefits of fueling social mobility for a historically oppressed class of people?
- NovemberWhiskey 4y agoAre you claiming that Asian people are not also a historically oppressed class of people in the US? c.f. Chinese Exclusion Act, internment, school segregation in California...
- virgildotcodes 4y agoNah, I didn't make any claims about Asian people. I was just referring to affirmative action as it benefits underrepresented black and brown people in the US. Frankly I haven't given it much thought outside of that context. Maybe the overarching goal should be to achieve a demographic that is roughly representative of the US population as a whole?