Affirmative Action - A Racist Policy

Most people who will read the title of this post will think the usual, that I am going to engage in the “backlash” or “reverse discrimination” argument, sorry I’m not going there, in fact it might surprise people, but affirmative action is white racism against blacks.

In my minds eye I can see the shocked look on people reading this, but in truth this is the case. Think about this for a moment, has ANY other group had to have quotas drawn up in order to excel in business or schooling? No, even the Irish when they came to this country, when they were met with “Irish need not apply” didn't need government intervention to get beyond this. Did the Asian population that came here (many as slave labor and/or indentured servants) need to have the government mandate quotas for them to build their businesses or attend the schools of their choice? No, not one group of people that came here willingly or as forced labor have been subject to being labeled as “required” to be hired to fill a quota.

What the white establishment, starting with LBJ, and furthered by Richard Nixon, which was the first president to establish “quotas” for federal government employment, and carried on through today are saying, is that if you are black you don’t have the ability to make it on your own. Harsh accusation you may say, but it really isn’t, it is sadly the innate racism that is subconsciously taught to most Anglos. I do not believe that it is an intentional slight to those of color, but never the less it is what it is - racism.

Historically we should have known this, as a similar, “white guilt” scenario played out hundreds of years ago regarding the native peoples in the northeast part of this continent in which, the bleeding hearts of the day chagrined at the treatment of these people decided that they would help by giving them food and clothing, just enough to help them subsist, and inevitably those brave hunters stopped hunting, and became the first victims of welfare.

My belief is that this type of pandering is meant not to really erase bigotry, but to garner votes and to quell white guilt. Social Welfare programs directed at people of color, employment quotas, and other “free ride” measures are in fact more detrimental to those of color than they are helpful. Regardless of what skin color you have, if you find that you can “get over” on the system, and receive a living, or get ahead without having to really work at it you will take that route. In some cases many of the poor, white, and black have found that it is easier to live in relative poverty (by U.S. standards) and not have to work, but still be able to feed your family and enjoy certain “luxuries” sufficient.

On the flip side of this there are those that poverty is not acceptable regardless of the color of their skin. One huge example that comes to mind is a Black woman by the name of Madam Sarah Walker. Ms. Walker was the FIRST female millionaire, black or white in the U.S. She did this in a time that there were no affirmative action programs, and not even many anti-discrimination laws, and in the south, to boot. According to the liberal racists in our country without their help no black person should be able to do this.

We have just come out of Black History month not long ago, and if anyone bothered to listen to some to the programs on T.V. or read about the accomplishments of many Black entrepreneurs, politicians, scientists, educators, and military hero’s they would have noticed that the vast majority of them did this in a free society unburdened with discriminatory affirmative action programs. They didn’t need whiteys help to excel, or become wealthy, all they needed was the OPPORTUNITY to do so, and even in a nation that has a long history of prejudice they did accomplish much, and maybe it was just that environment of adversity that made them strong.

Like all the people that have migrated here or came here as forced labor, people of color should have the same rights and privileges as everyone else, there is no doubt about that, but to mandate employment, or to provide handouts to any group is NOT helping them, but trapping them in a never ending cycle of dependence, dependence on government, and not on them selves. Providing people, any people, with handouts does not encourage them to excel, but in fact does the opposite, it locks them into a pseudo-comfort zone that invariably is stagnant and unproductive.

Like most liberal thinking the desire, and intent to help is honorable, but the implementation of the laws/mandates are typically counter productive, and in fact do more to harm to those that they are trying to help, than good.