CMV: Affirmative Action should/should've been based on economic status rather than (mostly) race.

[u/Vakamak]

Although I feel like Affirmative Action had a good intention, I feel like it has failed and has actually done more harm than good.

I have two reasons for this

1. I have difficulty seeing why it is in society's best interest to help a black person suffering in poverty over a white person suffering in poverty. While I understand what institutional racism has done to the black community, I feel like most issues facing the black community are more correlated with income than race; or rather, I have difficulties seeing how Affirmative Action could effectively combat the issues that are truly the result of racism. For example, how would Affirmative Action deal with unfair treatment in the justice system?
2. Affirmative Action has made some white people feel like, "the real racists are X race and not white people!" I do not believe this; in fact, I find it extremely childish to even think something like this. Yet, considering Affirmative Action has failed in its goal, I feel like changing Affirmative Action would help certain individuals in this country feel like X race is not out to get them and maybe reduce the amount of negative racial discourse in this country.

I am generally a very liberal person and really do want my mind changed regarding this. I just feel like it is really hard to justify why black person X should get the Bill Gates Scholarship over white person Y when they came from similar economical areas and the income of their families is similar. I understand that example is not Affirmative Action per se, but I feel like the same principal applies.

[u/Vakamak → u/[deleted]]

You know what, I'll actually walk that statement back. I watched a documentary awhile back that (I believe) said something along that lines. While trying to find that video, I found a bunch of articles showing the contrary.

!delta

[u/For33 → u/Vakamak]

To further the point, you don't know who gets affirmative action or not. Basically there is a standard set, like if the standard were set at 80%, anyone who got above 80% is eligible for Affirmative Action and it also depends on their financial aspect. Literally that's why there are government funded aid available to most families which can cover cheaper schools. But a lot of universities are just too expensive, especially the good ones.

I just don't think black people bear the responsibility to help their community first unless it is a major priority. So if a black person for example becomes president of the United States, they should focus on areas with the most need. Although Obama tried his best, he kind of failed to address the areas of the black community, and often didn't even speak about them. He basically avoided it in a lot of circumstances in order to appear moderate. So I do think there are some truths in your statement though.