Wednesday, July 04, 2007

The Reality of the Truth of the Situation

Affirmative action, a very interesting concept.

 

In South Africa affirmative action is a very controversial topic … for most people anyway. There is no denying that the African and Indian people of South Africa have been much marginalised. Apartheid may not be very fresh in the memory of most people but we all do study history at some point and have all heard about some person or other pulling the ‘race card’ and if you’re South African you should be well acquainted with the whole ‘Rugby and Race debacle’. The numbers all need to add up.

 

When did it become about numbers? When did we stop taking notice of people as human beings with skills and talents and start thinking of them as numbers?

I agree with affirmative action. I do believe that the people who were marginalised deserve the chance to have their turn. I don’t think the balance has been restored.

I still do believe that thousand of Black men and women have not been given the chance to prove themselves and it does upset me when I get invites to facebook groups called ‘Abolish Affirmative Action in South Africa

 

Why?

Why exactly should people who have endured many years of slave labour and all kinds of other tortures not be given the chance to excel?

 

Where are all the poor whites?

Where are all the white packers?

Where are all the white cleaners and janitors?

 

The balance needs to be restored. At dinner once somebody said ‘black people expect too much, they just want everything’

Well of course they want everything you bloody fool. Somebody once took everything away from them.

 

Let’s take a moment to remember that it was the blood sweat and tears of the African and Indian people that built our roads, built our bridges and paved our way in the economic international community. It may have been a white economy but it was African and Indian labour.

 

I don’t necessarily believe that the practical side of affirmative action is doing all that well in South Africa but I do believe in affirmative action as a concept.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why is Affirmative Action Necessary?

Affirmative action makes sure that qualified designated groups (black people, women and people with disabilities) have equal opportunities to get a job.

 

They must also be equally represented in all job categories and levels of the workplace.

Based on legislation in Section 15, of the Employment Equity Act

source

1 comment:

Shirley said...

AA is an ideal that has failed miserably in countries such as the United States and here. Because in its application it is prone to massive corruption-I am all for employmeny equity, especially when the majority of the country's population is not adequately represented.

However, it has to be within reason. There is a huge difference between hiring a skilled, knowledgeable black person over a white one or hiring a completely inexperienced and, dare I state it, incompetent person for their race or gender to even out the odds, over the skilled one. That to me is not acceptable.

Yes, you could consider the unskilled person underpriveleged and having had less opportunities than their white counterparts. But then pour funding into skills training. TRAIN. EDUCATE. Don't dump unskilled people in professions that require skill-it damages the economy and ensures that the underpriveleged remain so! It doesnt solve the problem, only the symptom. And it only perpetuates the problem as a result.

In addition, AA promotes racism and sexism. Stating that one will only hire a black female, for example, is blatantly prejudiced. This country, above all others, should be looking towards solutions that absolutely include the underprivelged and disatvantaged groups. But it should be colourblind. Otherwise, all that is happening is repeating the mistakes of the past, but with the different races cast in opposite roles. It doesnt change that dynamic and it nurtures resentment and prejudice. And, ultimately, it solves nothing.