Affirmative Action

Affirmative action helps to provide 'access to opportunity' for people who have been descriminated against on account of their race, religion, sex, or national origin. The concept itself brings attention to discrimination because it focuses on the number of minorities, rather than addressing who might actually be qualified for the position. However, like West says, "The elimination of affirmative action would only justify racial discrimination." For example, let's say a store owner is in charge of hiring one new worker that will work at the cashier - there are three people applying for the job, a white woman, a black man, and a white man. Regardless of who the store owner chooses, there will be some conflict with affirmative action. If one of the men were chosen, the woman might feel that she was discriminated against because she was not the same gender as they were - or how about if the black man was picked, this might suggest that the owner only hired him because he knew he needed a more diverse staff, but mostly because he didn't want to look 'racist.' I personally believe that Cornel West's statement is incredibly accurate, but leaves us as a society made up of very different people struggling with the question of whether affirmative action is actually effective and fair.