Morgan Curry
Dr. Trachtenberg
December 7, 2015
When hiring people for a job, there are multiple things that someone will look at
to see who is the best choice. But at what point has someone gone too far? Programs like
affirmative action are defined as programs taking the race or sex of employees or job
candidates into account as part of an effort to correct imbalances in employment that exist
as a result of past discrimination, either in the company itself or in the larger society
(Shaw, 437). Because minorities were treated with injustice in the past, affirmative
action levels the playing field for people who do not have the advantage of being white
and/or male. This seems like a very beneficial program, but there are many people who
disagree because they believe that affirmative action takes the advantages away from
white men and gives them to minorities, therefore reversing racial discrimination.
I believe that affirmative action is a moral program. White men have always had
advantages above minorities. This information is evident because people are continuing
discusses job discrimination proven by one of these studies. When investigators sent
equally qualified young white and black menall of them articulate and conventionally
dressedto apply for entry-level jobs in Chicago and Washington, D.C., the results
clearly showed racial discrimination against young African-American men (427). This
shows that there is still discrimination that needs to be stopped somehow. Affirmative
action is the best way to do this. If the firms in this study used programs like affirmative
Curry 2
action there would be no racial rift in the results. Society today is easily blinded to
believe that there is no more racism or discrimination against race anymore because
legally all colors are equal. However, studies like this one prove that this isnt the case.
Im coming at this from a deontological standpoint because I believe that it is our duty as
a society to make sure that there is no longer discrimination for minorities. Affirmative
However, this does not reflect everyones opinion on the issue. Some people
programs betray Martin Luther King's dream of a color-blind community, and the
heightened racial sensitivity they cause is a source of acrimony and tension instead of
healing (Sacks/Thiel, 1). This argument is saying that affirmative action, instead of
helping end discrimination, only draws attention to the difference in people and makes
people more sensitive to people that are different to them. This argument is utilitarian
because it is saying that there would be more good and more people would be better off if
there was no attention on the color of someones skin. This argument calls for people to
focus on something other than the color of skin. Another argument that is made against
argument is making the case on reverse discrimination; meaning people in the majority
are discriminated against instead of minorities. This argument uses the virtue theory by
looking at the intention behind affirmative action. Saying that the intention while good
While this seems like a good way of thinking, it is really rather skewed. While
this says that people should be blind to other peoples differences I believe something
different. People need to be conscious of other peoples skin color when handling
situations. Saying that a society should be color blind is like saying that in order to
actually be equal to a white person, they need to be treated like they dont have color at
all. Differences like race and gender should be celebrated. Society needs to recognize that
people are unique and should be encouraged regardless. Also, combatting the point that
affirmative action heightens racial sensitivity; I believe that programs like affirmative
action are there with then intention of lessening racial tension. By using affirmative
action, a person is increasing the amount of diverse people that work there. The goal is to
make a diverse workplace normal. The other argument about the intention of affirmative
action also can be broken apart. Reverse discrimination is a term made up by majorities
that believed that they had been dealt a bad hand even though they have been at an
advantage for their entire life. People with the majority race (white people) have always
had privileges that minorities do not have. Saying that white people are oppressed in any
way is offensive to minorities that have had to deal with oppression on a very real level.