The Case Against Affirmative Action

Affirmative Action has been in use since the Civil Rights Movement.  To prevent discrimination, government agencies, universities, corporations, and other institutions give race-based preferences to blacks.  If a white man and a black man apply for the same job, it is legal to hire the black man on the basis of his race, even if the white man is clearly more qualified.  This is done in the name of justice and equality.

But using discrimination in the present to overcome discrimination in the past is like trying to send the devil to defeat Satan.  

Chief Justice John Roberts said, "The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race."  In other words, the way to end discrimination against blacks is not to discriminate against whites, but to end discrimination against everyone.

There are at least five major problems with Affirmative Action.    

1) It teaches black people that they are inferior, because the only way they can compete with white people is with race-based preferences. 

2) It robs black people of the pride of achievement, because other people will always assume that their success is based on their race and not their hard work and talent. 

3) It causes resentment in white people and Asians when they are passed over because of the color of their skin.  It sows the seeds of racial discord. 

4) It puts blacks at a disadvantage when they are admitted to a school that they aren’t qualified for simply because of their skin color.  They end up dropping out.   

5) It hurts society as a whole when the most intelligent and hard-working people are passed over for people who are less intelligent and talented.  Consider medical schools.  When medical schools admit students not based on merit, but on skin color, this decreases the quality of healthcare for everyone. 

Affirmative Action is the perfect example of the old saying, “Two wrongs don’t make a right.”  We cannot correct past injustices by committing present injustices.  Race-based preferences are wrong, regardless of your motive.