Question

Affirmative Action vs Racist stuff

Affirmative Action is when a government gives benefits to a group because they were mistreated in the past. (Like how blacks were slaves in America)

NOW THEN is it racist if

1. You think affirmative action is racist since it's only giving benefits to a certain race.

or

2. People that oppose affirmative action are racists since that group deserves compensation.

Answer 1

Why do they deserve compensation?

Answer 2

That's just how affirmative action is defined. I guess like since they were oppressed

Answer 3

You brought up African American slaves so let’s use that example.

None of them are left alive. As far as I know, there are no laws which intendedly negatively impact African Americans. Why are we giving an entire demographic an advantage over the rest of the population because of something someone else did to their ancestors?

Answer 4

Also if you know of any current affirmative action plans which benefit African Americans purely because of slavery, please do inform me. I am not aware of any.

Answer 5

xd good point.

Answer 6

To answer your query, the first is racist and the second is not (conditionally). Let me explain why.

Discrimination has a negative connotation, let’s acknowledge that then properly define it. It is simply making a distinction, typically in reference to some larger body or demographic(ex: African American, race).

Thus, by calling someone ‘black,’ that is technically being racist. Thus something that singles out race and supports them financially for example, is certainly racist. Discrimination doesn’t have to be good or bad.

The second one isn’t, since these people who want to end affirmative action are technically seeking to end racism. Now, conditionally, there may be people out there who are racist and want it removed for that reason. But in genera, no.

Answer 7

It’s also worth noting that affirmative action discriminates AGAINST all other groups that don’t receive the benefit.

Answer 8

To further explore the above statement, it is worth pondering what messages your sending to these many demographics.

For example, we had affirmative action with colleges and SAT scores. You get brownie points for being African American and deducted points for being Asian. What if they get the same score and the Asian is looked over purely because the color of his skin. This occurs as well for Caucasians who do not receive the college brownie points during the admission process. In fact, Asians are penalized for it.

Answer 9

This is the crux of why identity politics is a terrible game to play. We ought to honor and respect individuals for who they are as people and the content of their character - not the color of their skin.

Yes I am quoting MLK.