In recent years Affirmative Action has become an issue of great interest. Affirmative Action, also known as Preferential Hiring, which was devised to create harmony between the different races and sexes, has divided the lines even more. Supporters on both sides seem fixed in their positions and often refuse to listen to the other group's platform. In this essay, the recipients of preferential hiring will be either black or female, and the position in question will be a professorship on the university level. The hiring's in question are cases that involve several candidates, all roughly equal in their qualifications (including experience, education, people skills, etc.), with the only difference being race and/or sex. What we have here is a case of predetermined preference. The two candidates in question are equal in all ways, except race. The black applicant is selected, not because of skills or qualifications (in that case the white man would have provided the same result), but for his skin color. This seems to be blatant discrimination, but many believe it is justified. Some feel retribution for years of discrimination is reason enough, but that issue will be discussed later. First, lets focus on why this is not a solution to creating an unbiased society.
Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." He desired a world without discrimination, without prejudice, and without stereotypes. The fundamental lesson years of discrimination should have taught is that to give anyone preference based on skin color, sex, or religious beliefs is, in one word, wrong. As Martin Luther King Jr. ...