MSLD634_A634.4.3.RB - Is Affirmative Action Ethical?

Module 4 Reflection Blog
Use Chapters 5 and 6 (LaFollette, 2007) as the foundation for your reflections regarding if affirmative action is ethical. Be sure to include externally sourced content. Present your opinion, support your opinion, and address opposing viewpoints.

“Affirmative action means positive steps taken to increase the representation of women and minorities in areas of employment, education, and culture from which they have been historically excluded. When those steps involve preferential selection—selection on the basis of race, gender, or ethnicity—affirmative action generates intense controversy. (Stanford, 2018)”

As a member of the US Unlimited Aerobatic Team, the debate on whether or not we should have a Woman’s team has always been a hot topic.  This has been an issue on US Skydiving teams and other sports where gender does not necessarily create a difference in skills.  Women have taken both sides of the argument.  Many women who claim to be feminists have fought to be considered equal as men and see the separation of men and women at the world level of these sports to be sexist.  Personally, I have taken the opposite opinion that the separate womens’ team is necessary in order to keep women in the sport.  Yes, there may be one or two women who would still qualify for the mens’ team, but the majority would not.  I see this as a numbers game and there are simply not that many women in the sport. Part of this is due to the fact that there are not as many female aerobatic pilots and not as many women getting involved, but part is certainly due to the male dominance in the sport and the fact that it is, most definitely, an old white guys club still.  While there are very supportive men in the sport who encourage and help women to get involved, there are still those that discriminate against and work against female involvement.  The part that really gets me is that they do not and will not ever see that they are acting on gender discrimination.  Without the womens’ team, women in the sport of world level aerobatics would, for the most part, disappear.  

Does the existence of the gender separation put women down and imply that they are lesser competitors than their male counterparts?  Does the separation of sexes and team slots that are reserved for women keep men off of the team who believe that they deserve to compete more than the women? This is an affirmative action issue and one of gender discrimination and womens’ rights.  I have chosen this topic for this reflection blog because it is one that I can relate to as I am right in the middle of it.  It is difficult for me to relate to being discriminated against due to the color of my skin, because I am a white woman living in a society where white people are privileged over those of color.  This is not an ideal situation and it is one that has stemmed from a history of white people systematically enslaving and mistreating black people for hundreds of year and excluding anyone who was not white from power and wealth (LaFollette, 2007).  

Andrea Crandall wrote an article on feminism and affirmative action and states that, “Discrimination is a tenacious problem because it involves changing people’s opinions about each other. Affirmative Action was designed to counteract this problem by promoting the rights of women and minorities in the workplace.  (Crandall, 2004)”.  Looking at history, President Kennedy’s Executive Order 10925 was created to ensure impartial treatment in the workplace.  In a way this seems to make sense that to not discriminate and to not be racist would be to look at people without consideration of race, religion or sex (Crandall, 2004).  Later, President Johnson instituted a requirement for acceptable affirmative action programs where race, sex and ethnicity would be considered in the workplace when applying for a job (Crandall, 2004).  This could be seen as a step backwards, however; in the context of morals and ethics the recognition of a lack of fairness that still existed in the workplace, despite Kennedy’s Order, required an action to commit to impartial treatment (Crandall, 2004).  

Feminists feel that Affirmative Action attempt to combat discrimination comes at the expense of equality and sends a self-defeating message that minorities are victims and uses discrimination against white males to counter discrimination against minorities in a sort of ‘eye-for-an-eye’ approach (Crandall, 2004).      

If what is ethical is what is fair, then I believe a limited amount of affirmative action is a necessary, and temporary, compromise to help to balance the discrimination that exists in society.  I fear that in one way it creates separation and segregation and does victimize minority groups, but without it they are facing an uphill battle that, until there is real change, can’t be won.  I would like to believe in the system of our courts and trust our leadership but have personally experienced sexism and had the system fail me when I asked for support.  The feminist in me wants to scream out for equality and against identity politics, but at the same time the mother in me wants equal opportunity for my daughter and for my son.  I hope that affirmative action can be something that is a temporary solution to a problem that, given time, will become non-existent with human evolution and enlightenment.  I believe that the best thing that we can do is to work on teaching the next generation to be better than the last one and work to not pass along toxic habits, thinking and views.  Let’s stop modern racism and discrimination in its tracks through education and action. 

Modern racism is, “an inability or unwillingness to acknowledge the rule that habits and institutions play in perpetuating racism, and it is an unwillingness to do anything about it. (LaFollette, 200&)”. 

References
Crandall, A., (2004).  The Flaws of Affirmative Action:  A Feminist Perspective.  Retrieved from http://tech.mit.edu/V124/N7/crandall7.7c.html
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, (2018).  Affirmative Action.  Retrieved from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/affirmative-action/
LaFollette, H. (2007). The Practice of Ethics.  Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub.
Yates, S. (1994).  The Ethics of Affirmative Action.  Retrieved from https://fee.org/articles/the-ethics-of-affirmative-action/

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