But the obverse is also true: once sentimental and economic ties disappear, ethnics will vanish into the acculturated mainstream” (Espiritu, 2002, p. “Ethnicity endures because individuals derive psychological or material support from their ethnic affiliations. It appears, however, that ethnicity and cultural diversity are notions too evasive to be effectively promoted by affirmative action.
Pan-ethnicity is one of the concepts that was created to explain the changes which ethnic minorities undergo in their process of assimilation with native populations and cultures. The truth is that what affirmative action seeks to promote are multiculturalism and ethnic diversity. Here, affirmative action does not eliminate discrimination, but on the contrary, makes native populations the victim of this very affirmative action, for they appear to be blamed for having been born white. Simultaneously, affirmative action cannot provide minority students with a better chance for admission only due to the fact that they are of Asian origin. In this context, affirmative action is important to teach university faculties and employers not to use race as the factor that may prevent a student or a potential employee to make a good career. On the contrary, and it is difficult not to agree with Justice Powell that quotas “would hinder rather than further attainment of genuine diversity” (Aguirre, 2003, p. In this context, the use of quotas seems one of the most extreme forms of multiculturalism and non-racism which nevertheless, would never lead to improve the general situation.
Very often, affirmative action implied too radical measures to promote better social opportunities which all populations would be able to use on equal terms. Unfortunately, affirmative action was initially too misbalanced to resolve the major racial controversies and to provide minority and native populations with equal chances for self-realization. The policies were originally developed to correct decades of discrimination and to give disadvantaged minorities a boost” (Curry 44). seeking better living, and as racism remains an essential component of our social relations with other ethnic populations, affirmative action should remain valid but should be reconstructed in a way that would work to provide everyone with equal opportunities and would eliminate preferential treatment with regard to any ethnic group.Īffirmative action “generally means giving preferential treatment to minorities in admission to universities or employment in government and businesses. Now, as diversity is valued more than any other social concept, as more and more Asians and Latin Americans come to the U.S. To a large extent, the system of affirmative action principles was too misbalanced to eliminate racism and to provide everyone with equal social opportunities. Unfortunately, with the expanding role of affirmative action, American populations have come to realize the discriminative attitudes they were given against preferential treatment of minorities.
Given the continuous racial prejudice and the growing percentage of a minority population in the U.S., affirmative action was expected to give minority representatives another chance to make a good career and to obtain a good education. Affirmative action has been designed to resolve the major ethnic/ racial controversies and to provide minority populations with a chance to realize themselves in a foreign society.
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