Affirmative action referendum 88 in WA
It looks like the referendum will be rejected by a margin of less than 1%, meaning the state's affirmative action ban will remain. Great outcome! Affirmative action discriminates by imposing different standards based on race and ethnicity.
What exactly was the referendum?
Our state voted to ban affirmative action in the 90s. The current woke progressive state legislature decided to overturn the ban without consent of the voters. And not only implement AA but also create a state run diversity & inclusion office as well as expand the AA language to include LGBT protections. The referendum is to reverse the new AA legislation (ie ban AA again like it was before)
In that case, that's excellent news. I'm a minority and never agreed with AA. I wish it was completely overturned and we based everything on the best skills and talent. I understand the attempt to level the playing field, but that was done in a different era and was never intended to turn into what it has. Today we've gone too far left to the point we allow schools like Harvard to openly discriminate against Chinese and white students in the admissions process because minorities have lower test scores.
shut up
ok boomer
AA is a joke and has never benefited the people it was meant to. The term minority is a joke as well and should be done away with. Weak candidates come in every color. People will continue to hire those that look like them. No law is going to remove discriminatory hiring practices. Post like this reveal passive aggressiveness and fear of competition. If you are as good an engineer as you say and heads above the others than what is there to worry about???
Good news
I'm actually confused. I have no real opinions on affirmative action. On the one hand it is racist by definition, on the other hand our Democratic state Senator was telling us to vote for it. What are the arguments for and against? Beyond moral arguments. Was affirmative action successful with it's goals in the past? Why did we ban it in the 90s? Why did we want it back now?
Saying that it is "racist by definition" is your real opinion. There was never any moral argument. America has poor economic and social mobility. If your parents/grandparents went to college or owned a house, you are more likely to have opportunities that make it more likely for you to do the same. If you parents and/or grandparents were discriminated against by the government and unable to do these things, you generally have less opportunities. It makes sense for the government to try and balance this out. Counter arguments have varying levels of implicit or explicit racism.
It makes sense for government to help poor people, rather than help based on race. Obama’s kids have way more advantages than most people in this country.
It doesn’t though. Another case of people not understanding the true value of their vote. Even Gary Locke was for it, who btw is Asian. The problem a lot of you don’t seem to understand is, affirmative action is to protect those that need it due to discrimination. Yes, it still exists in this country and those affected need protection. But keep sounding like entitled little whiny shits.
AA is racist. Period.
@above: Brown person here. Shut the fuck up.