The human search for individuality has been the motivating force behind humanity’s rise to new heights; In addition, the struggle to differentiate yourself from others, in the search for greatness, has led to racism: discrimination against a person or group based on race, religion or creed to limit their progress. This act of taking down a group of people based on insecurities is just as fundamentally flawed as using affirmative action to fix those wrongs.
Those with racist beliefs may hate certain groups based on their religion, language spoken, or place of birth. As in the case of a US Army soldier who used the Koran, the holy book of Islam, for target practice in Iraq during May 2008. This crime, called careless shooter, was intended to be harmless, although, the bullet-riddled Qur’an was marked with a target and had a swear word strewn across one of its pages. This form of racism, while passive in nature, is no less damaging than institutional racism, which represses certain groups through propaganda, denying benefits based on belief system or racial differences.
What may seem like a significant racial difference, such as coarseness of hair, facial structure, or skin color, is not a very distinctive factor according to the scientific community. In fact, the genetic differences that make our appearance unique are less significant than those that make us similar. In the book, In my father’s house: Africa in the philosophy of culture by Kwame Anthony Appiah, the author writes: “There are few genetic characteristics found in the population of England that are not found in similar proportions in Zaire or China…” This statement not only acknowledges our common pace, but also reveals a world that Bob Marley envisioned when he sang: “One love, one heart. Let’s get together and feel good.”
Despite our similarities, racism prevails. In 1961, President Kennedy introduced affirmative action as a plan to correct wrongs that persisted despite civil rights laws; however, it was not implemented until after President Johnson’s 1965 commencement address at Howard University.
Affirmative action, which focuses primarily on educational and employment programs, ensures that minorities enjoy benefits such as school admission, financial aid, scholarship options, increased pay, and the opportunity to grow within a company, which in the past had been favorably reserved for Caucasians. From its inception, affirmative action was envisioned as a temporary panacea intended to create equal opportunity for all Americans.
Opponents of affirmative action say it devalues personal achievement because candidates are chosen based on their social group rather than qualifications. Furthermore, affirmative actionists are not fighting to end racial discrimination, they are demanding that racial discrimination be legalized and enforced. They apparently want to ignore equality by proclaiming that skin color should be the primary consideration.
As a result, a Caucasian male is more likely to be denied employment or educational benefits due to his grandfather’s actions, regardless of whether his grandfather practiced such beliefs. Times have changed, because he is no longer the oppressor but the once oppressed who demands racial quotas.
Fortunately for Americans, we live in a country protected by First Amendment law, which protects free speech of everybody American people. The base behind the right is not only accepting what you agree with, but also what you disagree with. No doctrine, however contemptible it may be morally, can be prohibited by law; however, two wrongs do not make a right. Therefore, affirmative action should have there is no seat in our society as a means to combat racism. Edwin A. Locke said it best: “You can’t cure racism with more racism.”
Equality is the same for everyone until next time…
