AFFIRMATIVE ACTION – THE MAGNIFICENT FAILURE THAT KEEPS ON FAILING
This needs no detailed background report. We should give credit where credit is due. Affirmative Action (AA) is not simply a failure: It is a magnificent failure. I defy you to name another program with such universal approval, government support, total lack of opponents, unlimited financial backing and, finally a complete and absolute lack of success.
From day one, rational persons who approve of AA in principal, have tried to bring attention to the simple fact that, as presently tasked, AA is a classic case of irrational behavior. Consider the following proof:
A. Two men apply for a job; a black man and a white man. The black man is better qualified but the white man gets hired. This is wrong. We all it racial discrimination.
B. Two men apply for a job; a black man and a white man. The white man is better qualified but the black man is hired. This is equally wrong, but we applaud the decision and call it Affirmative Action and we are proud of ourselves.
We have appeared to have achieved a result that every educated person recognizes to be a logical impossibility. We have taken two wrongs and we claim to have made a right. Of course, we have done no such thing. We have convinced ourselves that we see a right because it is politically correct to do so. Like ingesting a small dose of some controlled substance, we have deluded ourselves into thinking that we have reason to feel good.
What have we really accomplished? I don’t think that you want to know, but I will tell you anyway. Let’s see how many wrongs we have actually committed in our misguided search for a right. We have:
1. Shown both applicants that fairness doesn’t apply to them.
2. Lowered the quality of work to be expected from the anointed also-ran.
3. Convinced the employer that maybe out-sourcing is the way to go. China doesn’t have Affirmative Action. They simply hire the best qualified applicant. Case closed.
4. Convinced the employer that, if he can’t hire the best qualified, maybe he should avoid black applicants altogether. One of them may, in fact, be the best qualified. We may never know, because the employer may have been required to hire a lesser qualified person before the good guy shows up. One black businessman told me, (in confidence, of course) that, “When I am ordered to discriminate against white people, I am also being ordered to discriminate against myself and my business. Of course, the Congressman assured me that I should not worry about quality because she will get me a minority set-aside grant. Should I be happy being a profitable, unfair failure?
5. How about the simple concept that someone in this scenario should be trying to advance that concept of right and wrong? Nah! Too old fashioned.
I could go on, but we all know that truth in O. W. Holmes’ observation that, “A page of history is worth a volume of logic.”
Let’s glance at the history of AA. It has been around for 60 years. How many of us can say the same thing about ourselves? This means that we have been following this illogic for our entire lives. Is there any way to get off this merry-go-round of absurdity? Can we just stop it? The dog says, “GRRR!” I guess this means that we can’t.
Are we being told that white employers are irredeemably evil? Or are we saying that blacks are genetically inferior and will never be able to compete on a level playing field? The first has been proven to be invalid. How? Look at the other non-whites among us. They have accepted that the rules are stacked against them and they have succeeded incredibly well. So much for the “evil” argument. As much as we dislike saying it, the blacks are the only ones claiming to be discriminated against.
If you are not convinced of the one-sided nature of this silly program, let’s go back to the 60 year time frame. Let’s suppose that you are asked to evaluate the program in the context of “continue or end”. To do so, it would be necessary to establish a parallel situation where we do not have the same level of hysteria. Let’s suppose that you are selling a medication to hospitals. You have a good sales pitch and the hospital gives you a trial order. They then try your medication on appropriate patients and notice no marked improvement in their symptoms. You tell them to try it a while longer and longer and longer. After 60 years, the buyer for the hospital says, WTF. How do you convince him to try for another 60 years? Can you really conjure up a need for your nostrum?
Actually, you don’t have to demonstrate a need. Remember, you are the dog with a bone. You don’t have to convince anyone of your need for the bone. You simply growl at them and they will leave you alone. The argument is settled (as long as you back off). The other side has accurately gauged your cowardice. Case closed.
AA forever!! How about a cabinet level department of AA? How about an AA political party? Oh, wait. We already have something better. We have the NAACP.
AA fans should not read any further.
How about we simply do the right thing and tell everyone that they will be required to take the same tests and live by the same rules as everyone else? Did you ever dream that you would like to see all people judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin? I have. And, I admit that I am not the first person to do so.
Unfortunately, some of our friends believe that such dreams are racist.
Think about it. Let us know if such a dream will ever become a reality.
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