Essay on a Key Difference between Affirmative Action and Diversity

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In George Sher’s article ‘Diversity’, he stresses and contends for the significance that preferential treatment has in expanding and improving diversity in the scholastic and business world. To do as such he spreads out four central key points that represent the thinking behind the contention that preferential treatment ought to be given to those of various ethnic, racial, and sexual identification in the working environment and scholastic foundations. The four points that he argues are, ‘a requirement of justice, intrinsically valuable, conductive to the general welfare, or conductive to some value other than well-being’. Although there are four key points, two seem more fitting for this paper. We will examine those that argue for the justice side of the argument, just as the intrinsic value that preferential treatment can convey to schools and work environments.

Furthermore I see Affirmative Action as a doubled edged sword I believe its a necessary evil and even with the claims about how its reverse discrimination which is false AA is not intended to exclude any group based on hatred , color or sex its just a means to help those who have been stomped on during this race of life to at least get a glimpse of the finish line but on the other hand as being a black man I wonder about the negative effects of AA imagine been awarded a position at a top firm but you question whether you earned it or just there to fill some corporations quota that strikes a blow to ones self-esteem because despite what does who disagree with AA might say, they could never imagine being that black man in the room and even if that black man worked twice as hard as everybody else even if he was the better candidate theres always the stigma around him stating on what grounds he got there and its even worse in his head because nobody is a bigger judge of a person than their self.

The Diversity Principle states that preferential treatment is justified when it promotes the ideal where all positions are occupied by groups (blacks, women, etc.) in a way that is roughly in proportion to their numbers in the overall population, what did all these fancy words mean simple lets look at it like this if African American males make 50% of the population then 50% of them should be CEOs, Doctors, Teachers Etc. so thats what Affirmative Action does supply the diversity that needs it in the workplace and academic settings or at least try to. Additionally with the consideration of what the negative effects of AA are and could be and even my being torn on AA is a good or bad thing, I still see Diversity in a room as a positive thing imagine a room full of the same people how can ingenuity flourish in a room like that but a room with a diverse set of people can change the world we live in because more than one perspective will guide the conversation.

She begins by displaying how each position that one applies for must be equally distributed to all racial, sexual, and ethnic groups based on the numbers that are accessible. Employers and schools must make the playing field fair in this regard by ensuring everybody gets an opportunity to gain said position Available. Moreover, he proceeds with this point by showing if there is no diversity inside an establishment/institution, this can be a result of unequal open doors that emerge for people of various racial, sexual, or ethnic backgrounds. For example, private schools that are not diverse must willingly volunteer to give equal opportunities for youngsters in low-income neighborhoods to apply for spots at that school. This is because the childhood and zone that a portion of these groups live in, don’t give them the chance or even the information to better themselves by being a part of these organizations will at least try to remedy that.

The second point that Sher raises to contend for the significance of preferential treatment is the intrinsic value that comes from having distinctive groups of individuals cooperating in scholastics and business. He assists this point by expressing how working/interactions with different groups of people that are not the same as your own sexual, racial, or ethnic identification can be amazingly beneficial, as it can enable individuals to comprehend and argue different perspectives and thoughts to better whatever result they are trying to achieve. the quote that Sher uses is that they are ‘breaking barriers and disrupting stereotypes’. This is the central part I concur with the most as it indicates how something extraordinary can be accomplished if individuals from various backgrounds set their differences aside and work together. Why is diversity needed and why is affirmative action necessary even in the 21st century Women of color among other individuals still don’t have similar opportunities others are granted, and this has turned into an indication of the way that if we keep on depending on equality chances and nondiscrimination policies nothing will truly change but if we do cast away Affirmative action or it never existed one has to wonder where would these groups be. He keeps on pointing out the advantages of affirmative action why this can be a valuable option regarding minorities in society, and why this can be an important choice to give women and people of color a better shot at gaining higher-paying employment, which was inferred yet never completely tended to in the Shers article.

Shers main issue is that all the justifications for Affirmative Action rely on the sole idea that a past wrong had taken place and these groups merit special treatment and reject those theories in full In the case of Nagel he is on board with AA even if it can be a little unfair he states since it reduces egregious racial stratification it’s justified. These two points are not easy especially since Sher explains how they would establish the merit of how much reward is needed for the wrongs done to the groups at hand. Now thats the scholar’s view of the situation and even if I am torn on the subject as well I offer you this the young African American who gave up the courage to apply to Harvard and made it whose family has never even probably been to college does his acceptance hard brad who was the option of any school in the world because he is from generational money, meaning him a white male from a white family who happens to have been well off for generations now and lets take into account how the years of abuse and oppression have the effect that young black man and his family and the things they think they can achieve or not, would a dark cloud not be lifted from that family would not hire ambitions take root in that household and all of it because of the diversity factory set forth from affirmative action and although he may spent nights wondering did his grades get him here or was it his skin. I believe he should see it this way whether it was his merits or his skin either way he still has to work twice as hard to prove himself and all the benefits he acquires from this chance cannot be taken away from him and thats what we should look at not factors if any we can base the amount of reward giving, just understanding how AA is necessary at all is seeing the bigger picture.  

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