The term
affirmative action refers to
policies that take race, ethnicity, or sex into consideration in an
attempt to promote
equal
opportunity or increase ethnic or other forms of diversity. The
focus of such policies ranges from employment and education to
public contracting and health programs. The impetus towards
affirmative action is twofold: to maximize diversity in all levels
of society, along with its presumed benefits, and to redress
perceived disadvantages due to overt, institutional, or involuntary
discrimination. Opponents argue that it promotes
reverse discrimination.
Affirmative action is also known as
positive action or positive
discrimination in the UK
,
reservation in India, and employment
equity in Canada.
Support
The principle of affirmative action stipulates to treat unequals as
equals is to perpetuate inequality. Affirmative action is seen by
its proponents as a foundational principle of democratic societies
such as India, that seek to redress imbalances, due to
disproportionate representation of underprivileged sections of
society in governmental, educational and industrial institutions.
Proponents of affirmative action argue, that the disproportionate
representations, results from covert, institutionalized and
involuntary forms of discrimination that permeates the fabric of
society; particularly in societies that have had a long history of
racial, ethnic, or sex based discrimination. Such acts of
discrimination may take many forms. Some are overt such as
stereotypes (e.g. women are only fit to be secretaries and
housewives, and blacks are great entertainers and sportsmen—modern
day gladiators but little else). Others are covert, such as "old
boys" clubs, that tend to favor racially akin new members.
Most
Americans
support affirmative action for women; with minorities, it
is more split. Men are only slightly more likely to support
affirmative action for women; though a majority of both do.
However, a slight majority of Americans do believe that affirmative
action goes beyond ensuring access and goes into the realm of
preferential treatment.
In
Ten Myths About Affirmative Action (2003) by
Scott Plous, it is argued that critics of
affirmative action often rely on misconceptions.
- One cannot hope to create a color blind society by practicing
color blind policies since such policies put racial minorities at a
disadvantage. For instance color blind seniority systems tend to
favor white workers against job layoffs, since senior employees
tend to be white. The point being existing imbalances in
representation tend to perpetuate themselves in the absence of
affirmative action.
- While a few studies claimed that affirmative action undermined
the self-esteem of women and minorities, more recent studies and
public opinion polls have indicated that such is not that case
- The claim that one cannot redress one form of discrimination by
introducing another is a play on words that uses the same word
"discrimination" to refer to two different things. Racial, ethnic
or sex based discrimination is often based on unfounded, often
irrational and deeply ingrained prejudices. Affirmative action is a
response to a statistically observed inequity in representation,
reproducibly demonstrated by social scientists in many societies
with a history of discrimination.
- Some opponents of affirmative action believe the practice
implies the preferential selection of unqualified candidates over
qualified candidates. But in fact, most supporters of affirmative
action oppose such preferential selection and instead prefer
preferential selection among equal or comparable candidates.
Opposition
Some opponents say affirmative action devalues the accomplishments
of people who are chosen because of the social group to which they
belong rather than their qualifications. Opponents also contend
that affirmative action devalues the accomplishments of all those
who belong to groups it is intended to help, therefore making
affirmative action counterproductive.
Some
people, such as American Republican Ward Connerly, also feel that affirmative
action is discrimination in itself since it judges people by their
ethnicity.
Opponents, who sometimes call affirmative action "reverse
discrimination," further claim that
affirmative action has undesirable side-effects in addition to
failing to achieve its goals. They argue that it hinders
reconciliation, replaces old wrongs with new wrongs, undermines the
achievements of minorities, and encourages individuals to identify
themselves as disadvantaged, even if they are not. It may increase
racial tension and benefit the more privileged people within
minority groups at the expense of the
least fortunate within majority groups (such as lower-class
whites).
Conservative commentator Dr.
Thomas
Sowell identified some negative results of race-based
affirmative action in his book,
Affirmative Action Around
the World: An Empirical Study. Sowell writes that
affirmative action policies encourage non-preferred groups to
designate themselves as members of preferred groups (i.e., primary
beneficiaries of affirmative action) to take advantage of group
preference policies; that they tend to benefit primarily the most
fortunate among the preferred group (e.g., upper and middle class
blacks), often to the detriment of the least fortunate among the
non-preferred groups (e.g., poor whites or Asians); that they
reduce the incentives of both the preferred and non-preferred to
perform at their best — the former because doing so is unnecessary
and the latter because it can prove futile — thereby resulting in
net losses for society as a whole; and that they increase animosity
toward preferred groups.
International policies
An in-depth examination of the
legal
status of affirmative action, as well as the different kinds of
programs that exist and their pros and cons, can be found in a
paper written for the United Nations
Sub-Commission
on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights by one of its
members,
Marc Bossuyt.
United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and
Protection of Human Rights. Commission on Human Rights, Economic
and Social Council, 17 June
2002
The International
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination stipulates (in Article 2.2) that affirmative
action programs may be required of countries that have ratified the
convention, in order to rectify systematic discrimination. It
states, however, that such programs "shall in no case entail as a
consequence the maintenance of unequal or separate rights for
different racial groups after the objectives for which they were
taken have been achieved." The United Nations Human Rights
Committee states, "the principle of equality sometimes requires
States parties to take affirmative action in order to diminish or
eliminate conditions which cause or help to perpetuate
discrimination prohibited by the Covenant. For example, in a State
where the general conditions of a certain part of the population
prevent or impair their enjoyment of human rights, the State should
take specific action to correct those conditions. Such action may
involve granting for a time to the part of the population concerned
certain preferential treatment in specific matters as compared with
the rest of the population. However, as long as such action is
needed to correct discrimination, in fact, it is a case of
legitimate differentiation under the Covenant."
Types
Affirmative action is generally established for:
Implementation worldwide
In some countries which have laws on racial equality, affirmative
action is rendered illegal because it doesn't treat all races
equally. This approach of equal treatment is sometimes described as
being "
color blind", in hopes
that it is effective against discrimination without engaging in
reverse discrimination.
In such countries, the focus tends to be on ensuring equal
opportunity and, for example, targeted advertising campaigns to
encourage ethnic minority candidates to join the police force. This
is sometimes described as "positive action".
- United States. The intended beneficiaries of affirmative action in
the United States include historically disadvantaged ethnic
minorities, women, people with disabilities, and veterans.
Affirmative action has been the subject of numerous court cases,
and has been contested on constitutional grounds. In 2003 a
Supreme Court decision concerning affirmative action in
universities allowed educational institutions to consider race as a
factor in admitting students, but ruled that strict point systems
are unconstitutional. Conservatives say that state officials have
widely disobeyed it. Alternatively, some colleges use financial
criteria to attract racial groups that have typically been under
represented and typically have lower living conditions. Executive
Orders 11246 and 11375 prohibit federal contractors and
subcontractors from discriminating against any employee or
applicant for employment because of race, skin color, religion,
gender, or national origin. Some states such as California and
Michigan have passed constitutional amendments banning affirmative
action within their respective states.
- Brazil
. Some
Brazilian Universities (State and Federal) have created systems of
preferred admissions (quotas) for racial minorities (blacks and
native Brazilians), the poor and people with disabilities. There
are already quotas of up to 20% of vacancies reserved for the
disabled in the civil public services.Plummer, Robert. "Black
Brazil Seeks a Better Future." BBC News, São Paulo 25
September 2006. 16 November 2006
/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5357842.stm>. The Democrats party, accusing the board of
directors of University of
Brasília of "nazism", questioned the constitutionality of the quotas the
University reserves to minorities on the Supreme Federal
Court
.
- Canada
. The
equality section of the Canadian Charter of
Rights and Freedoms explicitly permits affirmative action type
legislation, although the Charter does not require
legislation that gives preferential treatment. Subsection 2 of
Section
15 states that the equality provisions do "not preclude any
law, program or activity that has as its object the amelioration of
conditions of disadvantaged individuals or groups including those
that are disadvantaged because of race, national or ethnic origin,
colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability." The
Canadian Employment
Equity Act requires employers in federally-regulated industries
to give preferential treatment to four designated groups: Women,
people with disabilities, aboriginal people, and visible minorities. In most Canadian
Universities, people of Aboriginal background normally have lower
entrance requirements and are eligible to receive exclusive
scholarships. Some provinces and territories also have affirmative
action-type polices. For example, in Northwest
Territories
in the Canadian north, aboriginal people are given
preference for jobs and education and are considered to have P1
status. Non-aboriginal people who were born in the NWT or
have resided half of their life there are considered a P2, as well
as women and disabled people.GNWT - Human Resources - Affirmative
Action /www.hr.gov.nt.ca/employment/affirmativeaction/>See also,
Employment equity in
Canada.
- Sri
Lanka
. In 1971 the Standardization policy of Sri
Lankan universities was introduced as an affirmative action program
for students from areas which had poor educational facilities due
to 200 years purposeful discrimination by British colonialists. The British had practised
communal favoritism towards Christians and
the minority Tamil community for the
entire 200 years they had controlled Sri Lanka, as part of a policy
of divide and conquer.
- People's Republic of China
. "preferential policies" required some of
the top positions in governments be distributed to ethnic minorities and women.
Also, many universities are required by government to give
preferred admissions to ethnic minorities.2007 Graduate Student
Admission Ordainment - Ministry of Education,
PRC/www.moe.gov.cn/edoas/website18/30/info26630.htm>Ethnic and
Religious Affairs Commission of Guangdong Province
/www.mzzjw.gd.gov.cn/mzjy/ShowArticle.asp?ArticleID=541>
- Japan
.
Admission to universities as well as all government positions
(including teachers) are determined by the entrance exam, which is
extremely competitive at the top level. It is illegal to include
sex, ethnicity or other social background (but not nationality) in
criteria; however, there are informal policies to provide
employment and long term welfare (which is usually not available to
general public) to Burakumin at
municipality level.
- Malaysia
. The Malaysian New Economic Policy
or NEP serves as a form of affirmative action. Malaysia is the only
country in the world which provides affirmative action to the
majority because in general, the Malays have lower income than the
Chinese who have traditionally been involved businesses and
industries. Malaysia is a multiethnic country, with Malay making up the majority of close
to 52% of the population. About 30% of the population are Malaysians of Chinese descent, while
Malaysians of Indian descent
comprise about 8% of the population. Government policy provides
preferential placement for ethnic Malays, and 95% of all new
intakes for the army, hospital nurses, police, and other government
institutions are Malays. As of 2004, only 7% of all government
servants are ethnic Chinese, a drop from 30% in 1960. All eight of
the directors of the national petroleum company, Petronas, are Malays, and only 3% of Petronas
employees are Chinese. Additionally, 95% of all government
contracts are awarded to ethnic Malays. (See also Bumiputra) The mean income for Malays,
Chinese and Indians in 1957/58 were 134, 288 and 228 respectively.
In 1967/68 it was 154, 329 and 245, and in in 1970 it was 170, 390
and 300. Mean income disparity ratio for Chinese/Malays rose from
2.1 in 1957/58 to 2.3 in 1970, whereas for Indians/Malays the
disparity ratio also rose from 1.7 to 1.8 in the same period The
Malays viewed Independence as restoring their proper place in their
own country's socioeconomic order while the non-Malays were
opposing government efforts to advance Malay political primacy and
economic welfare. The rising tension and resentment of the Malays
for the Chinese and vice versa culminated in the vicious riots of
13 May 1969.
- New Zealand
. Individuals of Māori or other Polynesian descent are often afforded preferential
access to university courses, and scholarships.
- Finland
. In certain university education programs,
including legal and medical education, there are quotas for
Swedish-speaking applicants. The aim of the quotas is to guarantee
that a sufficient number of Swedish speaking professionals are
educated, thus safeguarding the linguistic rights of the Swedish-speaking Finns. The quota
system has met with criticism from the Finnish speaking majority,
some of whom consider the system unfair. In addition to these
linguistic quotas, women may get preferential treatment in
recruitment for certain public sector jobs if there is a gender
imbalance in the field.
- France
. No
distinctions based on race, religion or sex are allowed under the
1958 French Constitution. Since
the 1980s, a French version of affirmative action based on
neighborhood is in place for primary and secondary education. Some
schools, in neighborhoods labeled "Prioritary Education Zones", are
granted more funds than the others. Students from these schools
also benefit from special policies in certain institutions (such as
Sciences Po). The French Ministry of
Defense tried in 1990 to give more easily higher ranks and driving
licenses to young French soldiers with North-African origins. After
a strong protest by a young French lieutenant in the Ministry of
Defense newspaper ("Armées d'aujourd'hui"), this driving license
and rank project was canceled. After the Sarkozy election, a new
attempt in favour of Arabian-French students was made but Sarkozy
did not gain enough political support to change the French
constitution and then there is no affirmative action based on
notions such an ethnicity, race or national origin. The closest
thing is that highly ranked French schools are obliged to take a
certain amount of student of poor background and then the closest
thing to affirmative action in France is based on the social
background.
- Germany
. Article 3 of the German basic
law provides for equal rights of all people regardless of sex,
race or social background. There are programs stating that if men
and women have equal qualifications, women have to be preferred for
a job; moreover, the handicapped should be preferred to healthy
people. This is typical for all positions in state and university
service as of 2007, typically using the phrase "We try to increase
diversity in this line of work". In recent years, there has been a
long public debate about whether to issue programs that would grant
women a privileged access to jobs in order to fight discrimination.
Germany's Left Party
brought up the discussion about affirmative action in Germany's school system. According to
Stefan Zillich, quotas should be "a
possibility" to help working class children who did not do well in
school gain access to a Gymnasium (University-preparatory
school). Headmasters of Gymnasien have objected, saying
that this type of policy would "be a disservice" to poor
children.
- Sweden
.
Swedish democracy, although very solicitous about minorities'
rights and integration, does not allow affirmative action.
- The
United
Kingdom. In the UK, the term positive
action is generally used, and this term is used in legislation
including the proposed Equality Bill. There are strict limits on
positive action, as positive
discrimination is unlawful. Quotas and selective systems are
for the most part not permitted. An exception to this is a
provision made under the 1998 Good
Friday Agreement which requires that the Police Service of Northern
Ireland recruit equal numbers of Catholics and non-Catholics. Positive
action in encouraging people from under-represented backgrounds to
apply for jobs is permitted, but it is illegal to discriminate in
favour of them in awarding employment. A form of positive action is
used by the governing Labour
Party, which uses All-women
shortlists to ensure that more women are selected as election
candidates. This is exempt from the ban on positive discrimination
in employment under the Sex
Discrimination Act 2002. The proposed Equality Bill, published in April 2009
includes provisions to allow positive action in employment in some
cases.
- Republic of Macedonia
. Minorities, most notably Albanians
, are allocated quotas for access to state
universities, as well as in civil public services.
- Slovakia
. The Constitutional Court declared in
October 2005 that affirmative action i.e. "providing advantages for
people of an ethnic or racial minority group" as being against its
Constitution.
Apartheid policies were aimed at advancing the lives of white South
Africans. There was job reservation policy aimed at improving the
lives of white South Africans. Apartheid government favoured
white-owned companies and created statutory companies for white
South Africans. As a result, majority of companies in South Africa
are owned by white people. The aforementioned policies achieved the
desired results, but in the process they marginalised and excluded
black people. Black people were forcefully removed from their
previous property, without compensation, and said property was
given to the white minority.
When the new majority government came to power, they decided to
implement an affimative action campaign to correct previous
imbalances. As such, the previously disenfranchised majority and
minority groups are being supported by forcing the formerly
privileged white minority group to implement certain policies.
These policies include quotas regarding how much of the procurement
is bought from non-white companies, how much of the equity is owned
by non-whites, how many employees are non-white, and what position
the non-whites have.
The Employment Equity Act and the
Broad Based Black
Economic Empowerment Act aim to promote and achieve equality in
the workplace (in South Africa termed "equity"), by not only
advancing people from designated groups but also specifically
dis-advancing the others. Those specifically hindered are the white
minority. By legal definition, the designated groups who are to be
advanced in society include all people of colour, white women,
people with disabilities, and people from rural areas. The term
"black economic empowerment" is somewhat of a misnomer, therefore,
because the acts cover empowerment of any member of the designated
groups, regardless of race. However, government’s employment
legislation reserves 80% of new jobs for
black people and favours black-owned companies.
It is quota-based, with specific required outcomes. By a relatively
complex scoring system, which allows for some flexibility in the
manner in which each company meets its legal commitments, each
company is required to meet minimum requirements in terms of
representation by previously disadvantaged groups. The matters
covered include equity ownership, representation at employee and
management level (up to board of director level), procurement from
black-owned businesses and social investment programs, amongst
others. In 2008, the High Court in South Africa has ruled that
Chinese South Africans are to be
reclassified as
black people. As a
result of this ruling, ethnically Chinese citizens will be able to
benefit from government
Black
Economic Empowerment policies.
Other types of affirmative action
Given the history of discrimination against
LGBT people, actions in favor of them in activities
such as hiring, promotions, and college admissions have been
proposed. In many
college campuses in the
United States, for example,
sexual orientation is a characteristic
asked on college applications so that administrators can promote
what they see as a diverse student body.
A 2009 Quinnipiac
University
survey found American voters opposed to the
application of affirmative action to gay people, 65 over 27
percent. African-Americans
were found to be in favor by 54 over 38 percent.
See also
Notes and references
- Christophe Jaffrelot , India's Silent Revolution : The rise of
lower castes in northern India, pg. 321 2003
- http://www.usatoday.com/news/polls/tables/live/0623.htm
-
http://www.understandingprejudice.org/readroom/articles/affirm.htm
- Ezorsky, G. Racism and justice: The case for affirmative
action. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. 1991
- Heilman, M. E., Simon, M. C., & Repper, D. P. Intentionally
favored, unintentionally harmed? Impact of sex-based preferential
selection on self-perceptions and self-evaluations. Journal of
Applied Psychology, 72, 62-68. 1987
- Steele, S. The content of our character: A new vision of race
in America. New York: St. Martin's Press.
- Taylor. M. C. Impact of affirmative action on beneficiary
groups: Evidence from the 1990 General Social Survey. Basic and
Applied Social Psychology, 15, 143-178. 1994
- Roper Center for Public Opinion. Question ID: USGALLUP.950317,
R31 [Electronic database]. Available from Lexis-Nexis Academic
Universe Web site, http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe
1995
- Graves, L. M., & Powell, G. N. Effects of sex-based
preferential selection and discrimination on job attitudes. Human
Relations, 47, 133-157. 1994
- Bowler, M. Women's earnings: An overview. Monthly Labor Review,
pp. 13-21. December 1999
- Bowen, W. G., & Bok, D. The shape of the river: Long-term
consequences of considering race in college and university
admissions. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
1998
- Sher, George, "Preferential Hiring", in Tom Regan (ed.), Just
Business: New Introductory Essays In Business Ethics, Philadelphia,
Temple University Press, 1983, p.40.
- American Civil
Rights Institute
- Cultural Whiplash: Unforeseen Consequences of America's
Crusade Against Racial Discrimination / Patrick Garry (2006)
ISBN 1581825692
- ISBN 0-300-10199-6, 2004
- United Nations Committee on Human Rights, General Comment 18 on Non-discrimination, Paragraph
10
- Indy fire-fighters sue city, charge bias
- Highlights of the 2002-2003 Supreme Court
Term
- [1]
-
http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Asia-and-the-Pacific/Malaysia-POVERTY-AND-WEALTH.html
- Bumiputra Policy in Malaysia
- Perumal, M., 1989, 'Economic Growth and Income Inequality in
Malaysia, 1957–1984', Singapore. Economic Review, Vol.34, No.2,
pp.33–46.
- Income Inequality and Poverty in Malaysia by Shireen Mardziah
Hashim
- UK Commission for Racial
Equality website "Affirmative action around the world"
http://www.cre.gov.uk/Default.aspx.LocID-0hgnew0l0.RefLocID-0hg01b001006009.Lang-EN.htm
- Jean-Pierre Steinhofer: "Beur ou ordinaire" in "Armee
d'Ajourd'hui, 1991.
- [2]
- Susanne Vieth-Entus (29. Dezember 2008): "Sozialquote: Berliner
Gymnasien sollen mehr Schüler aus armen Familien aufnehmen". Der
Tagesspiegel
- Martin Klesmann (23. February 2009). "'Kinder aus Neukölln
würden sich nicht integrieren lassen' - Ein Politiker und ein
Schulleiter streiten über Sozialquoten an Gymnasien". Berliner
Zeitung
- http://www.lovdata.no/all/tl-19970613-045-032.html#6-3
-
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmbills/085/voli/09085i.i-ii.html
- Personneltoday.com "Is there a case for positive
discrimination?"
http://www.personneltoday.com/Articles/2006/01/17/33430/is-there-a-case-for-positive-discrimination.html
-
http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/forbusinessesandorganisation/employers/pages/recruitmentandjobadvertisements.aspx
- [3]
- Simon Wood meets the people who lost most when
Mandela won in South Africa
- We agree that you are black, South African court
tells Chinese, The Times
- U.S. Voters Disagree 3-1 With Sotomayor On Key
Case. Quinnipiac University. Published June
3, 2009.
External links
. In
all public limited companies
boards, either gender should be represented by 40%. This affects
roughly 400 companies.
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