Social Policy -- Affirmative Action Essay

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Potential Issues Militating against the Continued Use of Affirmative Action

The potential issues militating against continuation of affirmative action initiatives include the fact that they may unfairly discriminate against non-minorities, they ignore the comparable plight of individuals from minorities not officially recognized, and the fact that they may actually undermine the social progress of some of those individuals they are designed to benefit (Halbert & Ingulli, 2007). Paradoxically, the closer that the opportunities available to minorities and non-minorities become in society, the more potentially unfair affirmative action mechanisms are to those excluded from eligibility. That is particularly evident where the specific manifestations of affirmative action take the form of outright racial quotas or comparable preferential eligibility or hiring policies. Notwithstanding general statistical patterns, the continued reliance on rigid eligibility criteria also results in injustice where specific minority individuals happen not to suffer from the disadvantages experienced more generally by members of the same minority.

Furthermore, where minority status confers preferential advantages, it may actually undermine their cause in some respects (Schaefer, 2002). That is because awareness of affirmative action programs among educators and employers sometimes results in unfounded assumptions that minority members at prestigious academic institutions and employees in organizations may not necessarily have achieved their success on their own merits. Therefore, the concern is that now that overt discrimination has been prohibited by law for decades, affirmative action programs should be discontinued because they are responsible for perpetuating erroneous perceptions of unequal merit, particularly in cases where specific individuals do achieve their academic and professional goals through their own merit (Schaefer, 2002).

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Conclusion

In principle, the affirmative action concept has proven itself to be an effective social mechanism for resolving some of the remaining consequences of a shameful legacy of racial oppression and discrimination in American society. In decades past, it is uncontroverted that affirmative action opportunities enabled many members of racial and other minority groups to overcome some of the disadvantages attributable to their minority status in American society.

However, as society begins to approach equilibrium in terms of the relative opportunity for prosperity and success, the potential negative consequences associated with pursuing social justice in this manner increase. In addition to unfairly benefiting members of minority classes who no longer need assistance, they may also unfairly reduce opportunities available to disadvantaged non-minority individuals. Perhaps the most ironic potential negative consequences of the affirmative-action approach to social justice is their capacity to perpetuate negative stereotypes and the perception that members of minority groups are less capable of achievement on their own merits. Ultimately, affirmative action has proven to be an effective mechanism for resolving social injustice. However, the closer to equilibrium society approaches in that regard, the greater the need to tailor such mechanisms to best address the actual disadvantages still faced by some minorities without unfairly limiting the opportunities of non-minorities or tarnishing the accomplishments of members of minority groups whose successes are attributable to their abilities and efforts......

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