Lindsey Mattson Blog Post 3

Lindsey Mattson

Blog Post #3

Affirmative action creates reverse racism.  Discuss.

I agree with this statement, that affirmative action creates reverse racism or positive discrimination, but only for certain groups.  We say it is not right to treat people differently because of their race, but if we are providing specific racial groups unique treatment we are still treating these people not equally, doing exactly what we are trying to prevent.  As well as affirmative action creating “reverse” racism, it is being “negatively” racist towards groups of people that are usually seen as people that don’t need help getting a job or an education by not providing them with what they are qualified for. If affirmative action is seen as helping racial groups that are discriminated against very frequently it will unfortunately only favor mostly black, Hispanic, and Asian groups, leaving out everyone else who is just generalized as “doing fine.” I can see the argument that affirmative action doesn’t create reverse racism because I am partially making that argument, since I believe any special treatment, whether bad or good; towards any one race is racism, but I also can’t deny that affirmative action has provided employment for lots of people and is contributing to educational equity.  Affirmative action creating reverse racism is not a statement I can fully agree or disagree with, I just believe there is be a better way of handling supporting people in need, rather than focusing on just the race of the person. There are many other factors that could be contributing to the lack of employment or education that a person needs.