Comments on: Why We Still Need Affirmative Action

By: rora

rora — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 07:18:58 +0000

yes we still need it, I have been searching for a job, and I always get the same reply either they are not hiring or come back at a later time, or they’ll call, yet it never fails to amaze me that when I return to the company they have hired someone else, even though I was told they were NOT hiring, and yet causes a tremendous amount of stress, depression, and financial burden. No it’s not fair to discriminate, or to hire only friends, and or family. It’s not right to discriminate on a person while they’re at work either, and I have been a victim of that at every job I’ve ever had.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 11:20:04 +0000

It is not as simple as it seems, but I must be in disagreement with Dr. Bell (with due respect) and other, but “The historical moment when affirmative action was created is still here. It may be a very different historical moment but it is here. We need to but cannot design an intervention that will fit this because as Albert Einstein stated, “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” And back in 1862, President Lincoln sent a long message to Congress one month before signing the Emancipation Proclamation that addressed and I will quote bits and pieces,”
“Yet I trust that in view of the great responsibility resting upon me …We can succeed only by concert. It is not “can any of us imagine better?” but, “can we all do better?”
The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise — with the occasion…We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country…
Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We…The world will not forget that we say this… The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just — a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 13:32:09 +0000

If it’s still needed then it needs a clause to adjust to the changing demographics. Without that clause it is as discriminatory as the employment practices that advocates for AA claim still exists. I don’t know that I’ve personally seen anything within my bubble of the world as inappropriate as the as many of the speeches and comments during President Obama’s inauguration. That is no more appropriate than the open discrimination of past generations. Does one make the other right. No. Thus also does AA need to be adjusted for the changing tides.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 10:26:52 +0000

Why we still need Affirmative Action? Because two wrongs make a right? Sorry, but I just don’t buy it.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 09:19:55 +0000

Those that think affirmative action is not needed need to look at the Defense Finance and Accounting Service. At the agency, we have one or two african americans at the Senior Executive Level, none are hispanic, and the percentage comparisson is 98% white, 2% other. Explanation: Discrimination is still a huge problem. Those in power perpetrate it; they just don’t do it openly.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 08:48:21 +0000

To hear people talk about the unfairness of affirmative action is ridiculous. We were once told in a seminar for supervisors that the most unfair thing we could do in supervising a group of people is to treat everybody the same. This is the nature of affirmative action. We cannot achieve fairness (a level playing field) by treating everybody the same. Those who complain about affirmative action being unfair have no credibility, because things never were “fair”. Since we didn’t hear their righteous indignation when the “unfairness” was on the other foot, it becomes obvious that fairness is not the issue with them at all.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 08:20:37 +0000

The most qualified is not always the best person for the job. Because of the inequities that STILL exist on the playing field, we all know that without affirmative action, you can be qualified to the eth degree and never get the job. But qualifications – while must be met to apply – should not be the determining factor in all cases. Working in the arena of civil rights and affirmative action every day, many question whether it has become a joke, a “cya” – especially when the commitment to equality is over powered by the politics of the workplace. And we know that is still predominantly in the hands of Caucasian men. But it is far better to have AA than not.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 15:10:54 +0000

Racism is a cultural, institutional,generational dynamic that was here before affirmative action and will be here after affirmative programs are gone or changed. Until the above dynamics about race in this country is changed their will always be a need for affirmative action to level the playing field.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 15:05:32 +0000

Something to think about…

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 13:57:03 +0000

President Bush’s Minority housing initiatives created the largest increase in minority home ownership in U.S. history. His cabinet selections were incredibly diverse in regard to gender and race, and included firsts in selections/appointments to department level posts, including the US Supreme Court, Defense, State and AG. Was Reagan’s elimination of Carter’s affirmative action programs, “leveling the field” or an effort to eliminate inequitable considerations for those who had “a legecy”? Is not that a perspective?

I do enjoy reading this magizine. It gives me great insight into how the diversity logic ticks. For instance, convening a panel of “civil rights experts and lawyers, led by the CEO of DiversityInc” details just how “diverse” the makeup was of the group. This panel’s findings allowed Mr. Visconti to tell a group of CEOs and senior executives, how Mr. Connerly’s perception of affirmative action fails to recognize the damage of past practices. I believe having Mr. Connerly respresented in this dialogue is very healthy. I too strive to reach beyond the horizon of “what has always been” to be inclusive in hiring practices, but still do not see affirmative action practices as fair for all. As our country’s demographics rapidly change, will the focus of “the legecy” also adjust.