Pros and Cons of Affirmative Action

Affirmative Action Speech to the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)

"I have a dream that my four little children shall one day inhabit a world where they will be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." Martin Luther King, Jr. said this in his infamous “I Have a Dream” speech. MLK was a champion for a color-blind culture. He encouraged judgment based only on an individual’s merit when it came to education and employment. Affirmative action did not exist when MLK was alive. Given this statement; would he have been an opponent of affirmative action?

The definition of affirmative action is: public or private policies or programs, usually in employment and education, designed to give special consideration to disadvantaged groups and to enhance diversity. Affirmative action creates a constitutional paradox (a self-contradictory statement): The Constitution says we must treat all people equally, but affirmative action treats some people more equally than other people.

Affirmative action means different things to different people. To some, it simpy means a policy of non-discrimination. It requires a university or an employer to “cast a wide net” in its recruitment, admissions or hiring policy by advertising and recruiting in minority schools, social organizations and newspapers; but in the actual admissions or hiring, individuals are treated totally equal. For others, there should be racial preferences. Meaning that if white and minority candidates are equal in qualifications, the preference should be given to the minority candidate. And finally for some, affirmative action is a system of complete racial preferences and uneven handedness. It's a system where consideration and privileges are based entirely on the race of the individual.

Affirmative action policies have the intention to aid “previously persecuted” minorities, when in reality, these initiatives harm them. Thomas Sowell, an African-American...