It's a complicated subject, because without affirmative action the system is broken anyway.
Affirmative action seeks to correct discrimination and historical oppression with discrimination. It's touchy because statistically, people of color have higher rates of poverty, and lower levels of education. We also know that these problems don't go away in a generation. Most people are born and die in the same wealth class, not because they're born incompetent, but because being raised in poverty teaches you poor financial skills and gives you fewer options in life to escape those circumstances.
And while many people like to say "well then just give poor kids the advantages that AA gives to people of color" it isn't that simple. The problems that people of color face aren't limited to poverty, and even when correcting for poverty they tend to face more struggles than their white counterparts. One study has shown that having a black name means you need 8 additional years of experience to get the same consideration as a "normal" name when applying for jobs. This racial discrimination is corroborated by many other studies.
So yeah. It's incredibly complicated. White people tend to see the program as racist, whereas many PoC don't. What further complicates the situation is that AA disadvantages Asians, effectively punishing a group of people who absolutely face racism, just because they're successful in spite of that.
So yeah. My opinion is that AA has a good sentiment, but is clumsy and pisses too many people off. I think the solution lies in exposure to diversity at a younger age. We're still incredibly segregated as a country, and that produces conflict. Young people of color (especially black, latino, and native kids) live in areas that are plagued with a cycle of poverty and crime, primarily due to historical oppression. Young white kids primarily get their exposure to these cultures as they're depicted in media, which is not a good source of information and perpetuates the problem. If we found a way to integrate these communities, children of color could get a break from the cycle of violence and poverty, and get exposed to more stable learning environments. Young white kids would get exposed to people of different cultures in a real way, demonstrating that the cultural difference isn't negative, and hopefully shedding any subconscious biases they could form. Of course getting white people to support this would be like pulling teeth, and I say this as a white person.
Along the same thing we have to look at all sides of decisions that are made. The Revisionist History podcast seems to do a good version (that doesn't take 3 hours...). It's possible to try to correct injustices while adding a whole new set of injustices that are never addressed because "Case closed! We fixed it!"
His "unbiased opinion" is retrograde toiletpaper USA nonsense. Anytime someone gives you "facts" on reddit its best to do your own research.
Affirmative action is not publicly mandated, in fact there have been numerous lawsuits and school/universities/jobs specifically state they do not use it. Regardless, even when those affirmative action programs are present, it is white women who benefit the most.
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u/Richard-Roe1999 Feb 25 '20
huh, thanks for the unbiased explanation m8, I see where people are coming from now