Is Affirmative Action Ethical? The immediate
response that I have in this statement would be no because of some past
experiences that I have been faced with. I am a white male and I have been subjected
to reverse discrimination. I applied for a position with my current agency about
10 years ago or so. I applied for the position after having previous experience
from a different law enforcement agency with a commendable performance record. I
was called from the recruiter for the agency and told that I would not be considered
for employment at this time. I asked why this was the decision with my
application and I was told quite bluntly that I was the wrong skin color and
that he had received a directive to process on female and male African Americans.
I asked if these applicants had previous experience and I was told no that they
were applying top the police academy and they had to be trained. I found this astonishing
from an administrative standpoint that they would consider two applicants one
with experience and certified and one with no experience and not certified. I did
not understand this decision and to this day it still amazes me that the
decision to overlook a qualified applicant over a non-qualified one. This was a
direct result of Affirmative Action and in my opinion a classic example of
reverse discrimination.
So the question remains in
Affirmative Action Ethical? The question of ethics involving Affirmative Action
has been up for debate ever since the introduction of this policy to create a
level playing field for minorities. But at what costs does this policy inflict
and how is it viewed by the victims and winners of this? Through coercion not
education Affirmative Action has taken place and this was set in place because
of the social and political balance that we have between whites and minorities.
An example is the Native Americans being forced from their lands which by the
way were over a hundred years ago. I understand the need to compensate the
victims of this travesty but at what cost. Supporters of this philosophy say
that something should be done to equal the opportunities of minorities and I
can say through education this have been greatly compensated. The acceptance of
students into universities regardless of race and gender have improved and
allowed all students to excel.
References:
Issues in Ethics - V. 5, N. 2
Summer 1992 retrieved from website https://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v5n2/action.html
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