Affirmative Action

[Randy]

Affirmative action (known as positive discrimination in the United Kingdom and as employment equity in Canada and elsewhere) refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, sex, or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group "in areas of employment, education, and business". The concept of affirmative action was introduced in the early 1960s as a way to combat racial discrimination in the hiring process, and in 1967, the concept was expanded to include gender.
The nature of affirmative action policies varies from region to region. Some countries, such as India, use a quota system, whereby a certain percentage of jobs or school vacancies must be set aside for members of a race, caste or other protected group. In some other regions, specific quotas do not exist; instead, members of minorities are given preference in selection processes. Often, university scholarships are earmarked for members of a specific minority.

More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmative_action

Are you for or against affirmative action? What are your thoughts on it?

 

[DrLeftover]

What's the current working definition of the term "reverse racism"?

 

[Sinon]

Well, does it make employers hire people that are less qualified then others because of race, gender, religious affiliations, ethnic background or race?

I've found that to be the case, yes.

The description omits people with disabilities though, while I've often found that to be a reason too. Larger companies, by law, are required to have a certain number of non-whites, women, and disabled people working for them, to show they are against discrimination. What they fail to see is that this in itself is discriminatory. Were I to be part of a final two for a job say, working on a supermarket checkout, and the other person is disabled, that automatically makes me less likely to get the job.

To use an anecdote, a local store in my town opened up earlier this year, and I had an interview with them. I didn't get the job. I went in shortly after they opened to inquire as to why (because doing so shows interest in the position, as well as a willingness to try again, and to learn from any mistakes you may have made). One of the till workers was only using one arm to do anything, which got me to look at her other arm; which was false. She was working slowly (through no fault of her own, mind you) and I felt I would have been a better candidate for it due to previous retail experience, diligence, and the fact I am, shall we say, able-bodied.

But yeah.

The problem with affirmative action or whatever it's called here is that it ends up still being a prejudice. It's just a prejudice towards the majority rather than the minorities.

Similarly, an opening in a town/industrial estate nearby to me has a lot of factories and warehouses. One of which has vacancies, but I quote, "must speak the polish" in order to work there. So while it's not outright saying you have to be Polish to work for them, it's pretty clear because who the hell is going to learn a new language just to get a job in their own fucking country? Bah.

/rant

 

[Kirito]

Well, it's the case here. As a young, white male in an area where mostly older people have trouble finding a job I'm the last one in line for almost any job. I don't much care for it. =/

Well, does it make employers hire people that are less qualified then others because of race, gender, religious affiliations, ethnic background or race?

Definitely, in the 2 years I worked they constantly hired polish people that could hardly speak a word Dutch, just because the employer has to pay less taxes that way. As you can imagine that made my job much harder, as I had to explain everything to all customers. >_>

 

[Evil Eye]

It's racist.
Honestly, we should be able to do without...

Sometimes I think pretending racism doesn't exist might be a better way of ending it than anything else. But perhaps that's too 1984.

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

I suppose if I was a minority, I would support this because it would be easier for me to find a better job, in theory.

 

[chatterbox]

Affirmative action (known as positive discrimination in the United Kingdom and as employment equity in Canada and elsewhere) refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, sex, or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group "in areas of employment, education, and business". The concept of affirmative action was introduced in the early 1960s as a way to combat racial discrimination in the hiring process, and in 1967, the concept was expanded to include gender.
The nature of affirmative action policies varies from region to region. Some countries, such as India, use a quota system, whereby a certain percentage of jobs or school vacancies must be set aside for members of a race, caste or other protected group. In some other regions, specific quotas do not exist; instead, members of minorities are given preference in selection processes. Often, university scholarships are earmarked for members of a specific minority.

More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmative_action

Are you for or against affirmative action? What are your thoughts on it?

I believe that in hiring the best person for the job should be hired regardless of colour, sex or any other damn thing. And i support anything that will get us to that place no matter what it's called.