The Pursuit of Fairness: A History of Affirmative Action by Terry H. AndersonEven toddlers seem to inherently understand fairness. Try giving two small children different sizes of cake slices and see how fast the one with the smaller slice complains. Or, sometimes, the one with the larger slice shares.
In this book you will learn about the origins of affirmative action. Affirmative action started in WWII and JFK was the first to use the term. It started because qualified contractors were ignored by government agencies because they were owned by black people. There existed government procurers who would purchase lower quality goods or services because they didn't want to do business with a black person. Affirmative action started as a way to compensate for the bias in the system.
Why this is progressive/liberal: Affirmative action is one of the progressive policies that conservatives find most irksome. Senator Paul has stated his opposition to the Civil Rights Act, making the perfectly reasonable claim that every business owner should be allowed to sell or not sell to whomever they choose. In order to counter Paul and those who make similar arguments it's important to understand the history and logic behind affirmative action and other actions made by the government to shore up America's commitment to equal rights for all of its citizens. Once you've done your homework you'll be able to easily see that Paul and his ilk have not done theirs. Affirmative action only applies to government agencies, or those getting money from the federal government. And the Civil Rights Act only pertains to businesses that offer public accommodations. As long as Paul's business isn't a public service and doesn't take any government money, he can restrict who he takes money from all he wants.
BUY THIS BOOK
Buy the Kindle version: The Pursuit of Fairness: A History of Affirmative Action
No comments:
Post a Comment