Recently, the people of California voted on Proposition 209, a ballot measure to end affirmative action. The people passed this measure. However, the issue of affirmative action is not ended in California. We still need to talk about this issue. We need to decide what system will replace affirmative action so we can accomplish the worthy goal of including members of every group in all aspects of American life.
Proposition 209 was a ballot proposition to end affirmative action in public hiring and college admissions. It was worded to prevent preferences from being granted for minorities or women. Supporters said that the change would create fairness, and they obviously thought the system before that was unfair. They said it was unfair because it meant the most qualified people might not get the job, the contract, or the position in school. They said that less qualified people were being given an unfair advantage because of their gender or race. They said that the right way to do things in America was for race not to be used to discriminate, and they said that race was being used to discriminate against white people under affirmative action. Supporters of affirmative action say it is needed to make up for discrimination in the past so that people who are black and Hispanic can overcome their difficulties. Supporters of Proposition 209 say that this might have been true once. They also say that affirmative action grew into something very different, with many bad consequences. They say that affirmative action has created a more divided nation, with many groups claiming special status. The program was intended to make up for past discrimination, but most of the groups using it now have not been the victims of past discrimination.
Supporters of Proposition 209 hinted that many people were being turned away from jobs and colleges even when they were worthy because places were being saved for minorities who were not qu...