The Moral Status of Affirmative Action

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The Moral Status of Affirmative Action

• Written by
• Louis P. Pojman

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Definitions

• Discrimination Judging one thing to differ from
  another on the basis of some criterion.
• Prejudice is a discrimination based on
  irrelevant grounds.
• Bias signifies a tendency towards one thing
  rather than another where evidence is incomplete
  or based on non-moral factors.

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More Definitions

• Equal Opportunity offers everyone a fair chance
  at the best positions that society has at its
  disposal.
• Affirmative Action the effort to rectify the
  injustice of the past by special policies.

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Strong vs. Weak

• Weak Affirmative Action measures as the
  elimination of segregation, separate but equal
• Strong Affirmative Action attempts to eliminate
  past injustices, reverse discrimination

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A Brief History of Affirmative Actions

• Civil Rights Movement
• Beginning of Affirmative Action
• Continuance of Affirmative Action
• Affirmative Action in Education
• Race Norming
• Affirmative Action Today

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Arguments for Affirmative Action

• Need for Role Models
• Need of Breaking the Stereotypes
• Equal Results Argument
• The Compensation Argument

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Arguments for Affirmative Action

• Compensation from those Who Innocently Benefited
  from Past Injustice
• The Diversity Argument
• Anti-Meritocratic Argument to Justify Reverse
  Discrimination

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Arguments Against Affirmative Action

• Affirmative Action requires discrimination
  against a different group.
• Affirmative action discriminates against new
  minorities.
• Affirmative action does not meet its intended
  goal of achieving an equal opportunity society.

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Affirmative Action Perpetuates the Victimization
Syndrome

• Through Affirmative Action minorities receive the
  message that they will succeed more if past
  mistreatment is accentuated.
• When this message is accepted it can further harm
  minorities by creating a need for special
  treatment.

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Affirmative Action Encourages Mediocrity and
Incompetence

• If Affirmative Action replaces competency and
  skill, why should minorities or non-minorities
  strive to be their best?
• Affirmative Action with it twin idols,
  Sufficiency and Diversity, is the enemy of
  excellence. (Pojman 454)

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Affirmative Action Policies Unjustly Shift the
Burden of Proof

• While the author agrees that the efforts should
  be made to prevent prejudicial treatment, he
  states that Affirmative Action legislation tends
  to place the burden of proof on the employer who
  does not have an adequate representation of
  underutilized groups in his work force.
• Employers are automatically guilty until proven
  innocent when it comes to preferential hiring.
  People believe that employers can and do easily
  discriminate against minorities in their hiring
  practices.

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Arguments Against Affirmative Action

• From Thomas Howell

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Conclusion