Society & Lifestyle >
Racism
Get a Widget for this title
RSS FeedIs reverse discrimination a problem in the United States?
Results so far:
| Yes | 74% | 180 votes | Total: 243 votes | |
| No | 26% | 63 votes |
Yes
Write now
Print
Invite a writer™
Add to FavoritesReverse discrimination is a problem that for the most part, fly's under the radar, here in America!
Reverse discrimination is a topic that most often dosen't get the attention it deserves. If it's even spoken about at all! The reason I can speak of this problem with in-depth knowledge, is because of a personal experience which happened in my own life, a few years ago. Myself and another young man decided to start a new business in the Communication's industry. We pooled our resources, all of our asset's, and even went as far as taking out second mortgage's on our homes, to finance this endeavor.
We started out with just the two of us. But by the end of the first year, we had six Field Technicians, and two individual's that generated sale's for our small company. We were able to secure two major contracts, with two separate Communication firm's. This allowed us to expand dramatically. Hire several more employee's, and acquire larger, more lucrative, long term contracts.
At this point, we felt we were doing pretty well. We were able to double the size of our company and the number of employee's, in less than a year! Our company name was becoming fairly well known in the Midwest, where we were operating at the time, and our reputation for quality work as well as fair pricing was beginning to pay off!
I was in charge of personnel because of my technical background and having managed multiple people, locations, and situation's in my own thirty year career, in the Communication's Industry. At this time we had a total of ten hourly and two salaried employee's. This did not include my partner, or myself. Several times through the first few years, I had hired minority employee's. But on every single occasion, for one reason or another, they just didn't work out. The main reason's were because of low production, or missing too much time from work.
Be that as it may. We wound up with no minority employee's in our small company. After about two and a half years, we managed to secure a very large contract ,in the city of Omaha Nebraska. Now, you have to understand. At this point in the growth of our company, our Operational Capital Output was tremendous! So in order to be able to purchase the equipment and the umbrella insurance policies that were required to obtain the signed contract. We needed to secure a Small Business loan of apprx. $250.000 dollars.
Both my partner and myself were quite literally, on" Cloud Nine" because we knew that our line of business credit was outstanding, So we set up an appointment with the Small Business Administration to secure the loan, the following Monday. Their representative came to our office, and we proceeded to go through our Financial, and Employment records. Never once, did we anticipate any problems. But that most certainly didn't turn out to be the case, in our particular situation!
Everything was going just fine until we got to our employee history reports. Then, there was an huge change in his attitude and demeanor. Now, you have to remember. We had acquired small business loans in the past when we were a much smaller company, with no problem at all. But now as we sat there waiting for this gentleman to give us the verdict, it was obvious we were in for some bad news. He simply stated "off the record", that because we didn't have any minority employee's, the loan would not be approved!
Even though our employee records clearly stated that we had hired several minority employee's in the past, and the reason's for their eventual termination. Because we didn't have any current minorities on our payroll, we would not qualify for the loan! In plain terms. Because all of the employee's and the owners were of the caucasin race, our loan application was denied!
Now, remember my friends. This was a multi-million dollar contract, and it would have taken care of twelve married couples, and their children! Believe me when I say, we sat there in a total state of shock! We just couldn't believe it! Both my partner and myself even went so far as to guarantee the hiring of minorities in the employment contract, if we were able to secure the necessary funding! The answer was still the same!
So. Is reverse discrimination a problem in this country? I can tell you with absolute clarity, that it happens every single day, in the United States of America! Because of the decision made by the SBA that day, our small company eventually had to close it's doors, and file Bankruptcy! It took my partner and myself literally years to recover. Even then the financial lose was tremendous, to say the least.!
So, in conclusion of this article. Let me state for the record. Reverse discrimination has and does occur on a regular basis in this country! I only spoke of one particular situation in this article, but I personally know of several others that occured in the last several years! Each and everyone are absolute fact, and every single one, is just as heart-breaking!
Learn more about this author, Jonathan Clayton.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
No
Reverse discrimination, like Jim Crow, like the Grandfather Clause is a term used by white male Protestants to maintain America's status quo. The status quo is they are in positions of political and economic power. They are also in positions of influence. And that, minorities, Catholics and women are beneath them in all facets of society.
Reverse discrimination is the belief that a white male is denied something to someone of a different race or gender. Any example where minorities and women advance to a white man's "detriment" is reverse discrimination. Some examples are as follows.
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IN EDUCATION
Affirmative action is around to make sure EVERYONE has the same opportunities for education and employment. African Americans, like myself, who received scholarships to attend college, are examples of affirmative action at work. Too often, white students who have equal or worse grades than black students are taken ahead of their counterparts. Suburban schools, from elementary to high school, are still receiving more funding for programs, equipment and textbooks as compared to urban schools. This disturbing trend is due to the "white flight" to the suburbs after schools had to desegregate.
This trend is contributing to students (Grades 6 through 12) receiving low scores in reading, math and science. Urban schools are the institutions suffering the most.
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IN EMPLOYMENT
Affirmative action is affecting corporate America as well. The racial slur, "token" used by angered whites and blacks, refers to a minority hired just to fill a racial "quota". Companies are requested to hire ALL QUALIFIED APPLICANTS.
The National Football League is maintaining fair, minority hiring with the Rooney Rule. NFL teams are required to interview ALL QUALIFIED APPLICANTS; including minorities for coaching and personnel positions. African American coaches, Tony Dungy of the Indianapolis Colts and Lovie Smith of the Chicago Bears, are beneficiaries of the Rooney Rule. However, there are some institutions who still circumvent this affirmative action practice.
Attorney firms are guilty of not hiring minority applicants. The number of African American attorneys in licensed firms is disporportionately less than white attorneys. This becomes more troublesome when America's prisons are disporportionately populated by black inmates. In Iowa, black offenders comprise of about 50% of the prison population. Overall, we comprise to only 12% of the state's total population.
AFFIRMATI VE ACTION IN POLITICS
White America's response to equal hiring for ALL is reverse discrimination. Where would Sen. Hillary Clinton be without the benefits of affirmative action? Would she be a viable presidential candidate? Better yet, would Governor (because of affirmative action) Sarah Palin be Sen. John McCain's running mate? The one complaint about someone being denied is attacking an legitimate change in domestic policy.
REVERSE DISCRIMINATION?
Just recently, historic, black colleges are accepting white applicants for enrollment. Spelman College, Morehouse College, Clark University and Howard University are admitting white students. It's all because of money. They want their state to pay for their funding. An argument could be made that some southern states are denying funding for all-black institutions. If so, that is discrimination all over again; with no reverse or back-spin to it.
Learn more about this author, Marcus Brooks.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
