Why do we have Affirmative Action?

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talentedone

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The reason I write this posts is because I feel there is a need to clarify to some people why we have AA.

I have read a lot of posts from people saying AA should be scrapped as current generation was not responsible for Apartheid. I feel that some of these posts are deliberately ignorant as they are only concerned with blasting AA.

"Affirmative action ensures that qualified people from designated groups have equal opportunities in the workplace."

http://www.labour.gov.za/basic_guides/bguide_display.jsp?guide_id=5848

The reason I have equal opportunities in bold is because that is the thrust of AA : To afford designated groups opportunities that we all know daym well they were not going to get without AA. It is not purely about apartheid redress as most posters have indicated. That is why a statement like "current generation of whites was not responsible for Apartheid" or "reverse racism" is just downright ignorance (could have used stronger words here)

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.
 
talentedone said:
The reason I write this posts is because I feel there is a need to clarify to some people why we have AA.

I have read a lot of posts from people saying AA should be scrapped as current generation was not responsible for Apartheid. I feel that some of these posts are deliberately ignorant as they are only concerned with blasting AA.

"Affirmative action ensures that qualified people from designated groups have equal opportunities in the workplace."

http://www.labour.gov.za/basic_guides/bguide_display.jsp?guide_id=5848

The reason I have equal opportunities in bold is because that is the thrust of AA : To afford designated groups opportunities that we all know daym well they were not going to get without AA. It is not purely about apartheid redress as most posters have indicated. That is why a statement like "current generation of whites was not responsible for Apartheid" or "reverse racism" is just downright ignorance (could have used stronger words here)

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.
Click to expand...


A truely wonderfull idea.
 
talentedone said:
The reason I write this posts is because I feel there is a need to clarify to some people why we have AA.

I have read a lot of posts from people saying AA should be scrapped as current generation was not responsible for Apartheid. I feel that some of these posts are deliberately ignorant as they are only concerned with blasting AA.

"Affirmative action ensures that qualified people from designated groups have equal opportunities in the workplace."

http://www.labour.gov.za/basic_guides/bguide_display.jsp?guide_id=5848

The reason I have equal opportunities in bold is because that is the thrust of AA : To afford designated groups opportunities that we all know daym well they were not going to get without AA. It is not purely about apartheid redress as most posters have indicated. That is why a statement like "current generation of whites was not responsible for Apartheid" or "reverse racism" is just downright ignorance (could have used stronger words here)

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.
Click to expand...

AA has proved that it does not work, and only benefits the top brass. :rolleyes:
And AA has ensured more skills shortages than any time in history.
 
I think the debate should be "Why do we still have Affirmative Action?" Without an equitable representation debating the matter, its going one way as usual.

My thoughts from my experience are:

There will never be equal representation in all job categories and fields for that matter. I cannot see how my company that does highly specialized engineering design work can have equal representation now and not ever.
Even when we try, it has proved unsustainable. We just lost an employee today. Its a tough market.
 
MyselfY9Y said:
AA has proved that it does not work, and only benefits the top brass. :rolleyes:
And AA has ensured more skills shortages than any time in history.
Click to expand...

The only way AA is not working is that many corporates are still being allowed to get away with not implementing it.
 
boramk said:
AA is by stupid people, for stupid people.

unecessary and unfair
Click to expand...

So Sorry for the country and its' law makers to dissapoint you Einstein. Being all smarts perhaps you can invent an alternative way of ensuring designated groups (stupid people as you say) get equal opportunities
 
talentedone said:
So Sorry for the country and its' law makers to dissapoint you Einstein. Being all smarts perhaps you can invent an alternative way of ensuring designated groups (stupid people as you say) get equal opportunities
Click to expand...

What makes u think that people don't get equal opportunities?
 
dlk001 said:
I think the debate should be "Why do we still have Affirmative Action?" Without an equitable representation debating the matter, its going one way as usual.

My thoughts from my experience are:

There will never be equal representation in all job categories and fields for that matter. I cannot see how my company that does highly specialized engineering design work can have equal representation now and not ever.
Even when we try, it has proved unsustainable. We just lost an employee today. Its a tough market.
Click to expand...

Clearly if there are no blacks with the requisite qualifications then there are none to appoint. The thrust of AA is to prevent those designated groups who do have the requisite skills from being sidelined unfairly as is currently the scenario in many companies
 
alf101 said:
What makes u think that people don't get equal opportunities?
Click to expand...

Hello! Disabled folks get constantly looked over even in jobs where their disability will not affect the perfommance of the job. How would you like it you were disabled and not given the opportunity for no reason other than the fact that you are disabled
 
Dominic Rooney said:
Agree. ;)

Just to add: the stupid people who thought up this idea (and ones who support it) are a certain political grouping :D.
Click to expand...

Duh! What else could a white guy in Zim say. :D I really giggled my butt off when I saw that you are in Zim:D:D:D
 
talentedone said:
The only way AA is not working is that many corporates are still being allowed to get away with not implementing it.
Click to expand...

You tried it with Eskom. It failed.

You tried it with Local government.It failed.

You tried it with Government.It failed.

You are trying it with private companies.What would the result be?
Success?

The day you force AA on me or my bussiness, that is the day i close down.

There are easier ways of losing money.
I would rather burn it.(that way, at least i get something out of it.)
 
AA is a great idea but the problem with many great ideas is that they are only fully understood by those who came up with them. I am all for equal opportunities but the exact position and definition of an oportunity is where this all goes fuzzy.

It is fair enough hiring the AA candidate who has equal (or almost equal) qualifications to a non AA candidate, but it is something different altogether hiring an AA candidate and then simply passing on the actual work to someone who can do it, but doesn't get paid to do it.

What really tires me is the fact that whenever an argument is going nowhere, the race card is thrown onto the table. Like everyone else I just want the best doctor operating on me, the best engineer working on Eskom's problems, the best coach for the national side, the best players in my team but most of all I want someone to break the telkom stranglehold. I don't care what race they are, but I want to be treated equally to them and they want to be treated equally to me I'm sure.

Reference is made towards women and disabled people but I've yet to see a woman or disabled person get an AA job of late, now I'm not saying it doesn't happen, rather, I am suggesting that most often AA is applied to race specifically. FACT from my experience! You don't have to look further than the South African rugby coach for a prime example as it's been publicly stated that race played about the biggest role in the appointment.

So let's cut the crap and deploy it the way it was meant to be but most of all, make sure who has the most skills get the job. I fear that if we don't, then it's nothing other than reverse racism, that's right mate, I've said it. You might disagree, but you'd have to play the 'race' card to prove me wrong.
 
talentedone, I strongly suspect that you are one or two sandwiches short of a picnic.

AA in theory and AA in practise are about as mutually exclusive as you can get. In the real world we refer to this practise as RACISM. It prevents qualified people like me from holding jobs in corporate SA. It prevents the currently disadvantaged from advancement because all it looks after is a bunch of fat cat black bourgeoisie.

If you honestly believe that a black person with an MBA or any other degree was previously disadvantaged then you are smoking your socks with a benzine kicker. And you're a racist to boot.
 
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