Affirmative Action: A One Sided Argument!

Today anyone who has ever applied for employment, held a job, continued their education, or even joined the military is familiar with affirmative action to one degree or another. Some may only be aware of what others have told them verbally or in print and may have had no real exposure to this everyday social phenomenon. Therefore many may tend to believe what they have been told simply because many individuals speak the same rehearsed rhetoric. What many fail to notice is what is said between the lines, and often remains unsaid. Every story has two sides as is with the case of affirmative action. Many often see one side of the coin and never flip it over to reveal the other side, so it goes unsaid and unnoticed by the masses. However, the unspoken truth is there are many victims of affirmative action who never get a fair shake and nobody defends their rights and speaks up for them. Affirmative action was originally used to level the playing field and give everyone a fair chance. Sadly, it has instead given some groups an unfair advantage, by taking away the rights of others to compete fairly for jobs and education in our society today.

The group that largely remains in the back of the line when it comes to equal treatment for everyone is the white male. In today's world we are last in line to get hired and often the first to be let go. Such things like who has the best qualifications to do a job, or the best test scores to qualify for college entry often no longer apply. First considerations and preferential treatment often go to minorities, females, and bilingual speaking persons even if their actual qualifications are inadequate for the position. Time in grade or (time on the job,) are also no longer a consideration in promotions, and white males who may justly deserve a promotion are bypassed and let go because they are not black, not female, or don't speak Spanish.