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From: orb@whuxl.UUCP (SEVENER)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: Affirmative Action, Reverse Discrimination
Message-ID: <519@whuxl.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 13-Mar-85 08:41:40 EST
Article-I.D.: whuxl.519
Posted: Wed Mar 13 08:41:40 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 14-Mar-85 05:19:05 EST
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Periodically peeking in on the debate about Affirmative Action
it seems to me that both sides have distorted the basic purpose
of Affirmative Action and its justification.
The basic purpose of Affirmative Action is *not* to promote
blacks or women at the expense of white males.  The purpose of
Affirmative Action is to insure that these groups get a fair shake.
It is not just that blacks were slaves 100 years ago or that
women did not get even the right to vote until 1919.  The
unfortunate fact is that these groups are discriminated against
*right now*.  Of course we know that statistical studies demonstrate
that women and blacks are under-represented in almost all high-paying
professions.  We also know that even when in the same profession
women for instance get paid less than their male counterparts.
But does this represent discrimination or simply the superior talents
and experience of white males?
There have been studies which demonstrate that, at least in terms of
job applications, that part of these effects are definitely due to
discrimination.
Various social scientists have done the following experiment as a
test of discrimination: they have sent the exact same resumes 
for a job except for one difference: in one resume the applicant
was given a male name, in the other resume the applicant was given a
female name.  They have consistently found that even with the *exact
same resume* the male was picked over the female for interviews
two to one.  There can be no possible explanation of this difference
except: discrimination.
This sort of controlled experiment is much harder to do for blacks and
whites.  Race is usually not requested on resumes, and there is not 
such a straightforward method of knowing which race someone is from
by their name. But I would be willing to bet that such an effect
would be even stronger for blacks vs whites.
*THIS* is the reason for Affirmative Action: to counter people's
natural prejudices about blacks and women so that they begin to think:
am I choosing this person because they are the best qualified or simply
because they happen to fit my preconceived notions of the abilities of
certain social groups.  When left to themselves people will remain
stuck in their stereotypes and they *will* continue to discriminate
as they have been for decades and as they continue to do even after
the Civil Rights and Women's Rights movements.
          tim sevener   whuxl!orb