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English 111 G/H Rhetoric
and Composition
Sample E4
Another Brilliant Idea
Proposition
209 is an idea that should NOT be considered as a solution
in the Affirmative Action controversy. Proposition 209 states
that hiring or enrollment by means of race or gender is illegal.
This in turn makes Affirmative Action illegal. Affirmative Action
has helped millions of minorities get the jobs that they have
today. In instances where Affirmative Action was removed, the
enrollment took a nose-dive and hiring of minorities decreased.
Because of anti-Affirmative Action advocates’ well-worded
arguments, it was very difficult for me to take a side on Affirmative
Action at first, but I’ve come to the conclusion that people
who are against Affirmative Action and for Proposition 209 are
not being realistic in their goals.
We
can dispose of Affirmative Action when all people are equal.
Women still only take up a small portion of the upper management
in today’s businesses. When women and men have the exact
same job’s, women are almost always paid less. Although
unequal pay is still present, it has improved since Affirmative
Action came into being in 1991. The fight for equal rights has
been very gradual, but Affirmative Action is helping. With Proposition
209 being passed in California, all of this improvement could
come to a grinding halt. Proposition 209 states that the use
of gender and race is illegal in using for the basis of hiring
or college admissions. Okay, but who’s to say that people
will follow the law? Affirmative Action makes sure that minorities
are hired, without which it would be very hard to prove that
there is discrimination going on.
At
first glance Proposition 209 sounds just fine. It seems that
it will keep doing what Affirmative Action is doing. But in order
for Proposition 209 to be successful it must be assumed that
a person that has discriminated before is going to say "Oh
look, it’s against the law to hire based on gender and race,
I guess I’ll have to quit doing that now." In a perfect
world this would happen and all would be well, but if it were
a perfect world we wouldn’t even need a proposition on hiring
minorities: everyone would already be equal. This is why the
advocates of it are not being realistic. Of course, I would like
to think that everyone is already following what Prop. 209 says
already. But they’re not. People are still discriminating.
For now the problems of Affirmative Action cannot be solved by
Proposition 209. We need to keep looking for new solutions; not
jump upon the first new idea that comes along.
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Copyright 1997 Department of English |
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New Mexico State University |
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Use only with permission |
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