1991 Articles

The Influence of Affirmative Action on the American Work Ethic

Tucker, Chris

"As taken from a practice American Foreign Service Officer Examination, one of the many US civil service exams, this question exemplifies the influence express purpose of advancing members of under-privileged minorities toward leadership positions. Although the rationale behind this program is quite noble, what affect is it having on our nation as a whole? Prior to the conception of this program, our nation operated, ideally, with a policy of "advancement to the most deserving." Unfortunately racism and the nepotism of "old boy networks" were impurities in the system that needed to be eradicated. If the goal of the program's creators was to force-feed minorities into the establishment with total disregard to both level of qualification and the efficiency of the bureaucracy then, in effect, they were successful. But most would maintain that this was not the intention.
Another motivating factor behind the implementation of affirmative action was the relatively small number of minority role models in high-level positions in corporate America and the government. Without such models, it was thought that there would be no motivation for any member of a minority group to aspire to reach such high plateaus in American society. The attempt to create ethnic role models was also clear through the admissions policies of many universities and colleges. But in actuality, does this social advancement program achieve its goals?"--from pages 31