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Is affirmative action racist?
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Affirmative action compensates for privilege

Affirmative action is a kind of compensatory justice, by making up for America’s history of racial discrimination and giving minorities additional aid.
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The Argument

Affirmative action policies help give minorities the necessary boost to bring them to the starting line where privileged people already stand. In 1965, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, allowing African Americans to exercise their right to vote. As he stated: “You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line of a race, and then say, ‘You are free to compete…’ and still justly believe that you have been completely fair.” This case of affirmative action gave a leadway for African-Americans to vote because their race made it impossible until the act.[1]

Counter arguments

Premises

[P1] Affirmative action is a means to compensate for America’s history of racism. [P2] Affirmative action places minorities on an equal playing field.

Rejecting the premises

References

  1. https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=2390
This page was last edited on Thursday, 5 Mar 2020 at 15:03 UTC

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