A634.4.4.RB – Is Affirmative Action Ethical?

Is Affirmative Action Ethical?
            According to LaFollette (2007), affirmative action is the practice of giving favorable consideration to women in hiring and minorities in school placements.  Affirmative action is in one way or another a form of discriminatory act and unethical.  Tiatorio (n.d.) stated that ethical behavior in its purest form is a balance between self-interest and group responsibility, predominantly a behavior learned to stand in contradiction to an instinct.  Ethics are the standards of right and wrong that are described as what humans are obliged to do when it comes to the obligations, rights, and benefits to fairness and/or specific virtues (Claire et al., n.d.). 
            President John F. Kennedy and President Lyndon B. Johnson issued Executive Order 10925 and Executive Order 11246 that mandated a “non-discriminatory policies in regards to race religion, gender and country of origin (Dotigney, 2018).  I believe that the original purpose of affirmative action was positive.  It was designed to improve and advance the minority group’s vocational, educational, and employment access.  It was developed to combat the socioeconomic trends in the United States.  The affirmative action gave women the opportunity to work and minority students to attend college and get educated.
            On the other hand, when affirmative action was implemented based on its quota-based format, it was ruled to be discriminatory.  There were times that for colleges and universities and employers to meet the quota imposed, the affirmative action program permitted hiring under-qualified applicants as well as accepting unqualified students for college admissions due to their minority status. 
            Affirmative action program has its advantages and disadvantages.  One of the strengths of affirmative action is that it creates and promotes diversity in the work environment.  Organizations that embrace a multi-cultural workforce positioned themselves to serve multi-cultural communities by overcoming cultural barriers.  The program opened organizations to expand their business opportunities inclusive of government contracts.  The Executive Order imposed by President Kennedy and Johnson required organizations to develop and maintain policies in affirmative actions.
            One of the significant advantage that affirmative action program brings is that it promotes reverse discrimination.  In essence, giving an individual who belongs to a minority group preferential treatment over the other to meet a required quota is a discriminatory act and unethical.  It may also breed a social backlash for an organization that is negative in nature and may undermine the company’s financial stability.
Conclusion
            Promoting workplace diversity is an excellent initiative but should not prevail at the expense of others.  Perhaps one of the best ways to reduce workplace racism and discrimination is for company leaders to show behavior that demonstrates disapproval of discriminatory treatment. Upper management's behavior sets the tone for employees, who often emulate the positive work habits and practices that leaders’ exhibit. Executive support is necessary for the success of any type of workplace program or policy.
I believe that the tradition of prejudice and discrimination begins at home.  At a young age, we form our opinions, values, beliefs, and stereotypes of our parents and our environment.  Our parents and the environment that we were exposed to play an essential role in our upbringing and perhaps the main contributing factors towards forming our prejudice or discriminating views.  It is our responsibility to stop racism, prejudice, and discrimination and if we should do something about it.  Eliminating such discriminatory action begins with us.
References
Dontigney, E. (2018, April 13). Advantages and disadvantages of affirmative action in the
LaFollette, H. (2007). The practice of ethics. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
Tiatorio, A. (n.d.). What is Ethics? Retrieved
            from http://www.ethicsineducation.com/intro.htm (Links to an external site.)

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