My paper on Affirmative Action

[BayCityProgressive]

Hello everyone,

Just wondering if some fo you could share your thoughts on this draft paper of mine. For a college course I have I need to write a short2-3 page position paper ona controversial issue. I am not allowed to use statistics ect. so I am pretty limited between that and the size. Here it is:

Affirmative Action should not only be preserved but also expanded. Opponents of the policy continue to spread the lie that the left invented Affirmative Action during the civil rights movement of the 1960’s and try to discredit the gains we have made because of this necessary program by claiming it is a form of “reverse discrimination” that forces people in the present to pay for “sins” of the past.
President Bush recently criticized the court system because of their decisions on the University of Michigan’s admission policy, invoking the word quota. One of the most used arguments by the opposition against Affirmative Action is that “two wrongs don’t make a right”. In essence they are charging that the use of Affirmative Action doesn’t right the wrongs of the past such as slavery and segregation so we should just move on as if nothing happened and somehow nature will work all of our problems out and put us on an equal playing field. Despite these claims, Affirmative Action has but one purpose, not to be reverse discrimination but to reverse discrimination.
Affirmative Action as a tool in society should be looked upon as a program designed not only to acknowledge but also to correct policies and events that denied segments of our population their social, economic, and constitutional rights. It is used to make up for lost time, injustice, and past services that went unpaid. Affirmative Action calls for an abrupt change in the way our society operates and treats segments of its population. You can find Affirmative Action policies all throughout history dating back even before the 20th century.
The clearest form of Affirmative Action in America really appeared in the aftermath of the Civil War when slaves were freed and the “equal protection” clause of the 14th Amendment was passed. Under “equal protection” the idea of giving “40 acres and a mule” was advanced as a way to compensate slaves for their invaluable work in building up the very foundations of our society. However, for the most part this promise was never followed through and most ex-slaves never saw any action put behind this empty rhetoric.
Many Americans who are alive today benefited from the GI Bill of Rights, enacted after World War 2 which gave money to military personnel for low cost housing and college education as a form of payment for services and a way to integrate our servicemen back into American society, because being in the armed services put them at a disadvantage when returning to civilian life. This enabled veterans to re-enter the mainstream of American society and contribute to our country and economy. The GI Bill of Rights was clearly Affirmative Action in every definition of the word and was hailed as being patriotic.
So if helping veterans, disadvantaged by our government’s policies and actions return to a normal and productive life in society is considered patriotic, why then is providing a helping hand for African Americans who built the very pillars and foundations of the great society we have today without receiving any pay, all the while under the fist of oppression and discrimination, not patriotic? Why would helping women, who have tended to our nations needs during times of war, raised our children, and cared for our homes and our elderly, all the while being denied voting rights and discriminated against for centuries as mere vessels of reproduction and domestic servants, not be just as patriotic as helping our veterans in the armed services?
After Nuremberg, the German government paid reparations to families of Jews and other minorities that were shattered by Nazi war crimes and genocide. This too was a form of Affirmative Action but was not labeled as such and called justice. There are myriads of other examples of Affirmative Action in our society, such as enacting building codes mandating that special ramps be built and facilities to be wheelchair accessible. We allow for special spaces in parking lots for the handicapped to park while the rest of us find a less convenient spot. Sometimes in our country, progressive taxation is passed to force communities to build shelters for the poor, homes for the elderly, and facilities for the infirmed by taxing the more affluent members of society as a way of repaying the working class that they have made all of their profits on the backs of. We even apply the idea of a balanced ticket in our political system when considering northerners and southerners, moderates and radicals, Christians and non-Christians, if this enhances the ticket’s voter appeal.
So in retrospect, it seems as though reactionaries, racists, and power hunger politicians looking for easy votes only harp about Affirmative Action and so called “quotas” when the policy in question is perceived as benefiting women or people of color. They play on the public’s unconscious and often times conscious fear ingrained for centuries that somehow these people are less qualified than the majority for jobs, education, and leadership responsibilities.
Although we have made some progress on our war against discrimination and racism, most of our accomplishments have been nothing more than superficial political grandstanding. The racism and sexism that has given us slavery, segregation, and second-class citizenry is still here because it still serves a purpose within our society- the need for an underclass and underpaid workforce. Racism and Sexism will never be defeated until every American has all the rights promised to us in our Constitution.
This is where Affirmative Action comes into play because the only way to achieve civil rights for all is by providing equal education for all. Education opens the door for healthcare, and a life-supporting job. Without Affirmative Action, the playing field of America will remain dangerously uneven. As a moral society, we should demand that our government extend a compassionate hand up and not a kick back down to the bottomless pit of poverty and ignorance. We as a society are all interconnected in this global village and the downfall of one of us only pulls the rest of society down as well. One of Martin Luther King Jr.’s most famous quotes couldn’t be truer “injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere”. Affirmative Action is only one small part of our struggle for equality but if we compromise on this issue we only confirm a slide backwards for our society into the nightmare of prejudice and the disease of racism that infects the very foundations of our society.

[Loyal]

1. Great Paper

A :)

[sangha]

2. I give you an A-, at least.

You have a way with words, and you essay makes clear and powerful points. I'm impressed. I also have two small suggestions:

1) Paragraphs!! Break it up into smaller paragraphs. Each time you make a new argument, make it in a new paragraph. For the most part, you do this, but one or two seemed a bit long. Also, put a black line in between each paragraph. It makes it much easier to read.

2) You might want to consider mentioning the use of other factors besides race that AA uses such as sex, age, etc. You did an excellent job of showing how AA-like principles have been used in a variety of programs. IMO, you might want to make the same point explicitely regarding AA itself.

Great work

[Solomon]

3. Nice Job.

You might get some more ideas from this post.

http://democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=415268

:smoke: