A634.4.4.RB_Is Affirmative Action Ethical?

What is affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including race, color, religion, sex, or national origin into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group in areas of employment, education, and business; also can be referred to as reversed discrimination

I am the believer that we should treat everyone equally and there shouldn’t be any form of discrimination but as we know that is an almost in possible task to do.  LaFollette (2007) stated, “everyone except diehard racists now admit that systematic discrimination against blacks is wrong. It was wrong to deprive people of jobs, housing, health, public benefits, and legal and civil rights merely because of their race.  Affirmative action, they claim, is wrong for the same reason; these programs discriminate against whites simply because of their race. Two wrongs do not make a right” (p.87-88). Shifting who to be discriminated against doesn't change the future but solidifies hatred from the past.

In the idea of ethics playing a role in affirmative action, I don’t find it ethical to discriminate against any one and I find it ethical to allow for the best person, regardless of gender, race, creed, or any other signifier to win.

As I have stated before each person is going to see ethics differently so for me the only ethical way to see affirmative action is something in means of an explicit, aka bulls$*&.  Some believe that humans are a form of evolution, the idea of “survival of the fittest” and if that’s the case then affirmative action goes against evolutionary theory. You cannot give someone the right if they didn’t earn it.  People were and are designed to fight for what we believe in and taking that right away allows for state to come in and change nature.  Even if we were to look at affirmative action by means of a Biblical stance, there is nothing in the Bible that states we are to be given anything but yet we are to work for what we need, defend it and honor it; how can you honor a right given to you when you didn’t have to work for it?

I find that women are just as capable as men in almost all profession and regardless of race we are people and should be treated fairly. If you work hard for something it should be yours and not because the government says so.  Ethically the right thing to do is listen to the people and remove affirmative action and allow everyone to be equal regardless of the laws.  Some may feel that laws help create the culture and shape the future but that is only true if it is promoting something positive instead of inflicting pain or hardship through means of discrimination.