Advantages and Disadvantages of Affirmative Action

Affirmative action is a government policy, which goes by different names in other countries, that is sometimes referred to as “positive discrimination”. It promotes equality among minority groups and protects them from hate crimes and racist injustice. While this action may seem to be only positive, there are always two sides to every story. Let’s take a much closer look at both sides of the Affirmative Action laws.

Advantages of Affirmative Action

Increasing Diversity
A large part of the Affirmative Actions laws specify minority percentages for employment. This means that companies cannot discriminate a person or refuse to hire a person, solely based on their skin color or sexual orientation.

Increasing Greater Opportunities to the People
Children of minority are much more likely to be subjected to poverty, violence, and other disrupting things. This greatly impacts the education and schools of these communities. These laws help to give these students the help and boosts that they need to succeed in the world.

Protection From Hatred
While nothing can shield a person from all the hatred that they will encounter in their life, these Affirmative actions laws help tremendously. They enforce harsh and strict punishments on anyone who is found guilty of assaulting a person solely based on their race, sexual orientation, or gender. This makes many people think twice before committing a violence or hatred filled act.

Disadvantages of Affirmative Action

Reverse Racism
Racism is a two way street, as many people know. Affirmative action laws only protect one side of the fence, while the other side is left feeling like the bad guy no matter what the circumstance. It gives people a sense of entitlement and a feeling of anger towards the majority.

Low Standards to be Followed for Accountability
The standards for education and employees are greatly lowered. This is very negative because these people should be able to operate underneath the same standards as everyone else. This may in turn cause more racism to occur among people who are angry with the special treatment of some.

A Condescending Action
Affirmative action gives special treatment and protection to the minorities of America. This makes many people feel like they cannot succeed on their own and need special assistance just perform normal function of daily life.

Conclusion

While, sure, Affirmative Action laws benefit some people in the short term, in the long run more harm will be done than good. Equality cannot come if laws are in place making people even more unequal from each other.