An America Honored by Merit

1. An America Honored by Merit By DeeDeeHamilton Brother Griffin ENG252 20 October 2012

2. Affirmative Action • Initiated under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 under Lyndon Johnson • Designed to equalize the playing field for African Americans • Extends its reach to other ethnic groups and to women

3. Quotas • Ask yourself…. Is it fair to base hiring, education enrollment, or advancement criteria on the following? • The color of one’s skin • One’s gender • One’s religious beliefs or background • One’s sexual orientation • One’s political affiliation • One’s ethnicity

4. Affirmative Action: A “Redistribution of Potentials” To increase the number of minorities and women in higher level/higher paying jobs by equalizing their promotion opportunities and protecting them from being laid off… In all three of these situations- hiring, promotion and layoff- the effect is to deprive some individual, normally white males, of a “potential benefit, or opportunity, in order to enhance the opportunities of others. Bill Shaw

5. Affirmative Action: Unforeseen Consequences violates rights confounds desert • the right of an applicant “to equal consideration” (Thomson 1973, 377; Simon 1974, 312), • the right of the maximally competent to an open position (Goldman 1976, 191; Goldman 1979, 24–8), and • the right of everyone to equal opportunity (Gross 1977a, 382; Gross 1978, 97), • by severing reward from a “person's character, talents, choices and abilities” (Simon 1979, 96), • by “subordinating merit, conduct, and character to race” (Eastland & Bennett 1979, 144), and • by disconnecting outcomes from actual liability and damage Gross 1978, 125–42).

6. US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission • Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects individuals against employment discrimination on the basis of race and color as well as national origin, sex, or religion. • However, employers may legitimately need information about their employees' or applicants' race for affirmative action purposes and/or to track applicant flow. Whether Affirmative Action is implemented in the job market, in education, or any other public or private entity, the very nature of using ethnicity to determine position breeds discrimination.

7. Reverse Discrimination Attitude, ambition, and a hard work ethic are the very principles we want to cultivate in young people. As a society it is not advantageous to inhibit the growth which comes from old fashioned competition, determination, hard work, and drive.

8. Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness • We live in an age where it should be absolutely unacceptable to be judged and refused by skin color. Every man, woman, and child are subject to the same promissory note to be admitted, hired, and offered the same opportunities

9. I Have a Dream • Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. • Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. • Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.

10. Content rather than Quota • Recently I attended a book signing of an author who issued a contest to find illustrations from around the world to accompany her soon to be published children’s book. What impressed me about this woman was a comment that she made, about how she chose the art work which is now found in her book. She mentioned that she believed creativity and talent to know no color, age, gender, background, sexual orientation, or religious affiliation. She wanted to choose artwork based on the merit of how well it portrayed her story, unbiased of the illustrator’s background. As she pulled her final choices for publication, she investigated who the artists were. She was delighted to see the diversity and commonalities of artists from varying backgrounds. There was a young boy from India with a picture of a rooster, a small girl who drew her picture awaiting a heart transplant at the Rady Children’s Hospital; two more chosen pieces came from local artists who lived within minutes of her home. The impression left by her findings, surprised the author. By choosing the art work in an unbiased way, she was able to connect with their merit first, and then see the illustrators for their courageous diversities. What an honor to hear their stories and a privilege to see their beautiful artwork. The most amazing aspect was the incredible cohesiveness that bound them together into one story.

11. Anne Frank “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”

12. Works Cited