Affirmative Action: A Post-Debate Perspective

I’ve been thinking about some of the very valid criticisms of affirmative action policies that were made in class today. Our discussion challenged my views, but I still believe that affirmative action is a very necessary evil. Here’s my justification.

Many of the challenges to these practices suggested that affirmative action was just a band aid, rather than a cure, and that it attacks the symptoms of the problem rather than the problem itself. However, I don’t think that racism and sexism—and the discrimination that results—is an ailment that can be cured by direct treatment to any single source. In his post-class entry, Axl pointed out that stricter penalties for hate crimes would be another way to attack the problem, and I think this is an excellent point and should definitely be considered as well. I know that it was not that long ago that sexual orientation was added as a protected category under hate-crime laws, and I think this was an instrumental victory in the pursuit of equal opportunity for gay Americans within the nation. However, I think affirmative action is another necessary treatment in overcoming the ills of society. We are societal beings, who are influenced by what we see around us. Therefore, I think it is a perfectly reasonable assumption that an absence of minorities in high-paying, influential positions reinforces notions that these individuals are incompetent of performing these tasks or that other members of the group shouldn’t even bother to pursue these types of ambitions. For this reason, I think that affirmative action does address the root problem, rather than only the symptoms. I think a problem this deeply-rooted in our society needs to be addressed at all levels: hate crime enforcement, equal education at the elementary level, and affirmative action.

However, the more I think about it the more merits I see of the band aid analogy when applied to affirmative actions. Band aids don’t fix problems, and they are not meant to be permanent. While a band aid by itself cannot cure anything, it does help in instigating the healing process and minimizing the amount of blood lost in the meantime. Doesn’t a band aid of this type sound like a pretty important part of treating the ailment?