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Affirmative action

 

            The Proper Grounds for Affirmative Action.
             Affirmative action involving preferential treatment is an issue that is no longer a stranger to every day Americans as well as the Supreme Court. The implementation of affirmative action often involves giving preferential treatment to a candidate of a specific minority group. When choosing between two applicants, affirmative action would often be implemented by choosing a less qualified candidate from the specific minority group over a more qualified candidate who is not of a member of that group. Although there are various compelling arguments on both sides of the issue, there also lies the controversial question of what the motives for affirmative action should be. My theoretical justifications for the use of affirmative action are only concerned with the judicial foundations on which it is to be based rather than the issues regarding its implementation and potential adverse effects. As far as these various justifications are concerned, affirmative action involving preferential treatment should be practiced solely on the grounds of eliminating discrimination and unequal opportunity, and not based on self-interest, diversity, or the rectification of past injustices. .
             As the ultimate judicial power in the United States, the Supreme Court has made it clear that affirmative action is just solely based on the notion that it is in the institution's best interests to have diversity. A common case deemed acceptable by the Supreme Court would be a university providing preferential treatment to a minority applicant based upon that applicant's race, providing that it is in the university's best interests to have a diverse faculty. Although commonly accepted, this basis for preferential treatment is unjust. Since justice is often described as getting what you deserve, it is wrong to conclude that a less qualified minority applicant deserves a position over another applicant based on the fact that the minority applicant's race will provide diversity which is in the institution"s best interests.


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