Affirmative action

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard Boxill
Keyword(s):  
African Americans ◽  
Affirmative Action ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Important Implication ◽  
Racial Minorities ◽  
Reverse Discrimination ◽  
Preferential Treatment ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Forward Looking

The term ‘affirmative action’ originated in the USA under President Kennedy. Originally it was designed to ensure that employees and applicants for jobs with government contractors did not suffer discrimination. Within a year, however, ‘affirmative action’ was used to refer to policies aimed at compensating African-Americans for unjust racial discrimination, and at improving their opportunities to gain employment. An important implication of this shift was that affirmative action came to mean preferential treatment. Preferential treatment was later extended to include women as well as other disadvantaged racial and ethnic groups. The arguments in favour of preferential treatment can be usefully classified as backward-looking and forward-looking. Backward-looking arguments rely on the claim that preferential treatment of women and disadvantaged racial minorities compensates these groups or the members for the discrimination and injustices they have suffered. Forward-looking arguments rely on their claim that preferential treatment of women and disadvantaged racial minorities will help to bring about a better society. There has been much criticism of both types of argument. The most common accusation is that preferential treatment is reverse discrimination. Other criticisms are based around who exactly should be compensated, by what means and to what extent, and at whose cost. Finally, there is the fear of the unknown consequences of such action. Arguments have been forwarded to try and solve such difficulties, but the future of preferential treatment seems to lie in a combination of the two arguments.

scholarly journals Democracy and Challenges of Participation and Exclusion in Nigeria

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ogoh Alubo
Keyword(s):  
African Americans ◽  
Affirmative Action ◽  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
Vice President ◽  
Policy Reforms ◽  
Universal Suffrage ◽  
Form Of Government ◽  
Gender Inclusion ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Way

Democracy is cherished because of the opportunities it offers people to contribute to issues affecting their lives. This reasoning accounts for the celebration when this form of government was restored in Nigeria in 1999 after protracted military dictatorships. In 2019 there were further jubilations over 20 unbroken years of democracy, the first since independence in 1960; issues of inclusion and exclusion were not mentioned. Yet, there are widespread exclusion of ethnic minorities and women through which their participation in running for office is circumscribed by circumstances of birth. Experiences in Plateau and Benue States are used as illustrations. It is here contended that until more deliberate efforts are made to include everyone, Nigeria’s brand of democracy will continue to exclude ethnic minorities and women. The dominant mantra of ‘majority carries the vote’ only aggravates the problem, a deliberate policy to resolve exclusion is necessary. Rwanda has led the way in gender inclusion, just as the USA had also shown that through policy reforms such as universal suffrage and affirmative action, African Americans and other minorities can become part of the mainstream, even producing a President and recently, 2021, the Vice President.

LINKING BLACKNESS OR ETHNIC OTHERING?

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 335-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shayla C. Nunnally
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Racial Socialization ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
The United States ◽  
West Indians ◽  
Linked Fate ◽  
Major Predictor

AbstractDawson (1994) submits Black linked fate is a major predictor of Black political behavior. This theory conjectures that the experiences of African Americans with race and racial discrimination in the United States unify their personal interests under a rubric of interests that are best for the Black racial group. With increasing Black ethnic diversity in the United States, however, it becomes important to ascertain how African Americans perceive linkages across Black ethnic groups. This study examines African Americans' linkages with West Indian and African peoples in the United States, referred to here as diasporic linked fate. The study tests the influence of parent-child, intra-racial socialization messages on these linkages. Results suggest that, while a majority of African Americans acknowledge Black linked fate, they distinguish these linkages based on ethnicity and have more tenuous linkages with West Indians and Africans in the United States. While intra-racial socialization messages offer some import in explaining perceived differences in Black ethnic groups' living experiences, more frequent experiences with racial discrimination, and membership in a Black organization offer more import in explaining diasporic linked fate.

scholarly journals Combatting Discrimination

2021 ◽  
pp. 79-91
Author(s):  
Rosita Fibbi ◽  
Arnfinn H. Midtbøen ◽  
Patrick Simon
Keyword(s):  
Affirmative Action ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
Racial Minorities ◽  
Unfair Treatment

AbstractThere is a large variety of policies and actions contributing to tackling discrimination against immigrants and ethno-racial minorities, and countries vary greatly in their strategies to tackle ethnic and racial discrimination. This chapter distinguishes between three main types of measures – antidiscrimination legislation, affirmative action and other equal opportunity policies, and tools for promoting diversity – and describe their origins as well as whether they are implemented in different contexts. The chapter also reviews studies that have aimed at assessing the effectiveness of measures to combat discrimination and concludes by pointing out the necessity of statistics broken down by ethnicity or race to uncover unfair treatment and disadvantage faced by minorities.

scholarly journals Rethinking the Dworkinian Forward-Looking Approach: is Affirmative Action Compatible with Fairness?

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 166
Author(s):  
Chong Ho Yu ◽  
Kwok Tung Cheung
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Affirmative Action ◽  
The United States ◽  
Special Treatment ◽  
Social Injustice ◽  
Preferential Treatment ◽  
Ronald Dworkin ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
The Past ◽  
Forward Looking

Whether Affirmative Action is a proper way to accomplish social justice in terms of fairness has been an ongoing debate in the United States. Late philosopher Ronald Dworkin was a vocal supporter of Category 4 Affirmative Action, in which preferential treatments for minorities is justified. Dworkin emphasized a forward-looking approach as a means to achieve social justice and overall fairness. In his view, it is not sufficient for black applicants to enjoy preferential treatment now just because in the past their ancestors suffered due to slavery. Rather, a successful argument for affirmative action programs must include a forward-looking justification. To be specific, this policy promises a better educational environment in terms of diversity and promotes a less racially conscious society for all citizens. Additionally, Dworkin often cited the study entitled The Shape of the River to substantiate his claim that special treatment for minorities could amend social injustice and produce fairer outcomes. This article attempts to evaluate this Dworkinian theory on both the principle and practical levels. It concluded that while a neutral or non-interventional policy is insufficient to achieve racial equality, interventions in terms of special treatments and soft quotas are not yet shown to be fair in practice.

Examining Racial Discrimination’s Association With Depressive Symptoms Through Metadehumanization Among African Americans: Does Racial Identity Matter?

2020 ◽  
pp. 009579842098366
Author(s):  
Yara Mekawi ◽  
Natalie N. Watson-Singleton
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Racial Identity ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Indirect Effect ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
The United States ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
Social Cognitive Theories

Though considerable empirical work has documented the ways in which African Americans are dehumanized by other racial groups, there is no research examining how perceiving dehumanization (i.e., metadehumanization) is associated with the mental health of African Americans. In this study, we examined the indirect effect of racial discrimination on depressive symptoms through metadehumanization and explored whether this indirect effect was contingent on racial identity (i.e., centrality, private regard). African American students completed measures in a university lab located in the Midwestern region of the United States ( N = 326; Mage = 19.7, 72.4% women). We found that the degree to which racial discrimination was indirectly associated with depressive symptoms through metadehumanization was contingent on racial identity dimensions. Specifically, the indirect effect of racial discrimination on depressive symptoms through metadehumanization was only significant for individuals who were relatively higher on centrality and private regard. This research suggests that the role of metadehumanization is stronger among African Americans who strongly identify with and have positive views of their racial group. We discuss these results in the context of social cognitive theories.

scholarly journals Incidence, Characteristics and Outcomes of Large Vessel Stroke in COVID-19 Cohort: An International Multicenter Study

Neurosurgery ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priyank Khandelwal ◽  
Fawaz Al-Mufti ◽  
Ambooj Tiwari ◽  
Amit Singla ◽  
Adam A Dmytriw ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
African Americans ◽  
Multicenter Study ◽  
Large Vessel ◽  
Vessel Occlusion ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Younger Age ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Rehabilitation Facilities ◽  
International Multicenter Study

Abstract BACKGROUND While there are reports of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients, the overall incidence of AIS and clinical characteristics of large vessel occlusion (LVO) remain unclear. OBJECTIVE To attempt to establish incidence of AIS in COVID-19 patients in an international cohort. METHODS A cross-sectional retrospective, multicenter study of consecutive patients admitted with AIS and COVID-19 was undertaken from March 1 to May 1, 2020 at 12 stroke centers from 4 countries. Out of those 12 centers, 9 centers admitted all types of strokes and data from those were used to calculate the incidence rate of AIS. Three centers exclusively transferred LVO stroke (LVOs) patients and were excluded only for the purposes of calculating the incidence of AIS. Detailed data were collected on consecutive LVOs in hospitalized patients who underwent mechanical thrombectomy (MT) across all 12 centers. RESULTS Out of 6698 COVID-19 patients admitted to 9 stroke centers, the incidence of stroke was found to be 1.3% (interquartile range [IQR] 0.75%-1.7%). The median age of LVOs patients was 51 yr (IQR 50-75 yr), and in the US centers, African Americans comprised 28% of patients. Out of 66 LVOs, 10 patients (16%) were less than 50 yr of age. Among the LVOs eligible for MT, the average time from symptom onset to presentation was 558 min (IQR 82-695 min). A total of 21 (50%) patients were either discharged to home or discharged to acute rehabilitation facilities. CONCLUSION LVO was predominant in patients with AIS and COVID-19 across 2 continents, occurring at a significantly younger age and affecting African Americans disproportionately in the USA.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document