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Is affirmative action racist?
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Affirmative action makes the wrong assumptions

It assumes that every Caucasian person is affluent and every person of color is deprived and in need of special circumstances.
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The Argument

Affirmative action assumes that institutions have to give people of color “special treatment" in order for them to succeed. And it further insinuates that Caucasian people are smart and wealthy on their own merit. The policy actually aids upper- and middle-class people from minority backgrounds rather than the less fortunate.[1] It neither aids the disadvantaged people of color nor favors any applications of poor Caucasian people. It further creates a divide between racial groups and prejudices towards affirmative action recipients. Affirmative action is solely based on the race of the individual and not their socio-economic background.

Counter arguments

Premises

[P1] Affirmative action assumes Caucasians are wealthy. [P2] Affirmative action assumes people of color are in need. [P3] It is racist to make these sorts of assumptions about groups of people.

Rejecting the premises

References

  1. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctv3mtczg
This page was last edited on Thursday, 5 Mar 2020 at 14:50 UTC

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