Self Analysis

The first day this blog project was assigned, I had no idea what topic I wanted to do.  I started off very broad with the topic racism and sexism in America.  Dr. Frost said I had to narrow down that broad topic to a specific topic in that area.  My original focus was minorities in the workplace, and how they are increasing.  However, by doing more research I found a better argument about how affirmative action is used in colleges and the workplace.  The issue of affirmative action in the workplace is not one of the main political issues right now, and that is why I chose to do it.  I wanted to inform others about this important topic.

During my research process, I read many articles that were factual and articles that were opinionated.  The reading of these articles lead me to the two sides of this issue as people who want affirmative action to continue or people who want affirmative action to stop.  This debate can also be viewed politically as Democrats vs. Republicans.  Democrats want to continue the idea of affirmative action in the workplace, while Republicans would like affirmative action to end.  My opinion was affirmative action is needed to ensure minorities are represented fairly in the workplace.  From the beginning of the blog until now my opinion has not changed, however now I feel more educated on this topic because I presented both sides of the argument without bias, and defended my opinion.   A solution to make both sides of the issue happy is for employers to market jobs for a diverse group of people, which would lead to a diverse applicant pool the employer could choose from.  More qualified minorities would apply for a job that was marketed towards a diverse group of people.

As the country moves forward, I am curious to see if affirmative action in the workplace will continue or will it be done away with.  With the election of the country’s first African-American president, the country seems to be moving in the right direction.

I hope you enjoyed reading my blog!

Links Post

http://www.watchblog.com/republicans/archives/001819.html

The watchblog is a Republican blog that defined the stance of Republicans on the issue of affirmative action in college and workplace.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2353196/both_sides_of_affirmative_action_in.html?cat=31

This website offered a solution that made both sides of the affirmative action issue happy, which I used in my theory post.

http://www.bvblackspin.com/2008/10/14/democrat-view-affirmative-action/

This website offered the opinion of Democrats on the issue of affirmative action in America.

http://www.ur.umich.edu/0203/June16_03/01_decision.shtml

The University of Michigan’s website gave an in depth summary of the Supreme Court decision to uphold affirmative action.  I cited this site multiple times throughout my blog.

http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/aahist.html

In Motion Magazine created a timeline on the history of affirmative action in America, which help me narrow done specific aspects I wanted to research on affirmative action.

http://www.balancedpolitics.org/affirmative_action.htm

This website provided positives and negatives of affirmative action.

http://www.balancedpolitics.org/affirmative_action.htm

This website provided an in depth definition of affirmative action.

Implications Post

As stated in the theory post, Democrats and Republicans are at a disagreement with the issue of affirmative action.  One solution offered was marketing jobs to a diverse pool of applicants.  However, if the solution does not work, and the issue is not solved then both parties will still be unhappy.   Republicans feel that affirmative action is not necessary anymore in America, and Democrats want affirmative action to stay.  Since this issue cannot be resolved, the country will just stay with the status quo and handle affirmative action in the way it was handled in the past.  The last Supreme Court Case was the University of Michigan case, and the court ruled in favor of affirmative action.  Therefore, I do not think anything is going to change in the coming years with affirmative action.

Class Links

Here are some of my classmates’ blogs who I found very interesting.

http://reformingimmigrationlaws.blogspot.com/

I really enjoyed reading this blog because immigration is such a big issue.  The argument about reforming immigration laws was presented in an unbiased view.  The blog explained the different sides of the debate and what exactly needs to be done to reform immigration laws.

http://mosqueman2010.blogspot.com

I started reading this blog because I did not know much about the issue of the Mosque in Manhattan.  I knew this issue would be very controversial, but the blog did not present any bias.  The issue of the Mosque being built in Manhattan was thoroughly explained, and I gained a better understanding of the issue.

http://standup-genocide.blogspot.com

I liked reading this blog because genocide is close issue to me.  The blog did a great job in explaining the different genocides in the world and creating awareness.  The blog did not present any bias, and it presented genocide as a bigger issue that our country needs to be aware of.

The Future of Affirmative Action

With the election of an African-American President, many people feel that affirmative action is not complete.  Indeed the election of Obama showed that America is getting better about racial discrimination and starting to be fair.  Obama ran on a colorblind campaign.  He did not want be judge on his skin tone, but the content of his character.  When Obama addressed the NAACP during his election, he did not mention affirmative action, but he called for more cops to protect on the streets.  His speech was broad and not race focused like speeches given by Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson.  The different race supporters of Obama interrupted his election in different ways.  Blacks perceived his election as the “advancing the black community”, whites perceived his election as “post-racial” politics, and the multiracial supporters perceived the notion of colorblind policy as naïve.

The election of the first African-American president has shown affirmative action has worked.  However, I do not think the country is fully ready to discard all affirmative action, especially from the workplace.  There are becoming more African-American CEOs, but the majority of all companies are under the control of the white majority.  If affirmative action had been eliminated, would African-American have the opportunity to be CEOs?  I don’t think they would.  Affirmative action allows for all minorities to receive a fair chance in the workplace and college admission.  Had this policy not been in place, there would be more racial discrimination now.  One day in the future, affirmative action will not be necessary because this country will truly be colorblind.  However, that day will not be very soon so affirmative action needs to stay.

Source: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/11/what-s-next-for-affirmative-action/7122/

Fall Break Post- Political Cartoon 2

http://filipspagnoli.wordpress.com/2008/04/04/human-rights-cartoon-46/

Political Cartoon #1- Affirmative Action

This cartoon describes how Ivy League schools give preferences to the rich and wealthy, and normally do not accept students coming from poor backgrounds.

Source: http://bradbrown.com