Why I am against Affirmative Action
Hi,
As a Black woman people oftentimes assume that I have unwavering support for Affirmative Action. That could not be any further from the truth. But let’s start with some background. What is Affirmative Action? According to Britannica, Affirmative Action, in the United States is an active effort to improve employment or educational opportunities for members of minority groups and for women. It was initiated by the administration of President Lyndon Johnson (1963–69) in order to improve opportunities for African Americans while civil rights legislation was dismantling the legal basis for discrimination.[1] On the surface it sounds great. Who wouldn’t be pro-equal rights? I will break down why I believe Affirmative Action actually does more to harm the Black community than to help it in 2023.
Did you know that more than a third of White students lie about their race on college applications? [2] So what is the assumption there? That if you are a person of color in the United States, you are more likely to be granted admission to a school because of your race. Not because of your talent or accomplishments but you’re more likely to be admitted due to physical characteristics you cannot control and you did not choose. I don’t know about you but that doesn’t sound very fair. Aside from fairness, the societal assumption now is that if you’re a person of color recently admitted into a college or received an offer for a job it was likely due to your race. Again a characteristic out of your control. I don’t really mind societal assumptions (negative stereotypes exist for everyone). What I do mind is what the implementation of Affirmative Action assumes about all Black individuals: that we are always less fortunate than all White individuals.
If you’ve been following this page long enough, then you know how much I loathe the idea that all Black people in this country are oppressed and all White people in this country are oppressors. With Affirmative Action, the assumption is that all Black people need more support to get into elite schools or receive job offers than all White people. This is false. My Black Hispanic child born of two Software Engineers (one of whom attended MIT on a merit scholarship) will not need more help/support than a White girl born of a single mother who works as receptionist and struggles to make ends meet. Assuming someone is less fortunate simply because they are Black or assuming someone is more fortunate simply because they are White is a dangerous narrative to push. It puts an entire race on a pedestal that shouldn’t even exist. This is why I believe Affirmative Action should be solely based on a family’s socioeconomic status not race or gender.
I’m not a heartless person. I do believe individuals from poor backgrounds that weren’t provided the same opportunities growing up as a well off individual should be given additional assistance. Absolutely. This removes the assumption that women and/or minorities got into a school or received a job offer due to physical characteristics outside of their control. Think about it this way: If you look around a room at work or at school can you point out all the Black people or all the women? Surely you can. Now look around the room again. Can you point out all the individuals that grew up poor or lower middle class? Probably not. That is exactly my point. There would be no “diversity hire.” There would be no assumption that every woman or person of color was likely granted special access regardless of their background. It would be purely based on actual need.
Lastly, I want to address the question of “How can you be against something that has benefitted you?” I will acknowledge that unfortunately I have likely been helped by Affirmative Action. Yes, I am still against it. Not only is “How can you be against something that has benefitted you?” probably one of the dumbest questions I have received but it’s extremely easy to counter. Why would former slave owners (who benefitted from slavery) be against individuals owning slaves in the future? In Greta Thunberg’s voice How dare you??? Probably because it’s a bad thing. So yes, people can 100% be against things that they’ve benefit from if that those things are immoral or unfair.
I hope this opened your mind to a different perspective on Affirmative Action (from a Black woman).
Thanks for reading!
