Liberty Pen: Walter E. Williams & Ron Walters Debate Affirmative Action (1988)

Source:FreeState Now

The problem with affirmative action in a country that’s supposed to be a liberal democracy like America, that claims to be color-blind and that all people are created equally under law, is that affirmative action simply contradicts those beautiful liberal values that I share. Because under law, it denies people things based on race and color. While it’s benefiting other people things based on the same characteristics. So what we are doing is saying that we believe in things like color-blindness which is really race-blindness, but we do not believe in it enough to actually practice it.

And what we are doing instead is because certain groups of Americans have been denied their constitutional rights in America over the years simply because of their race and even at times have been denied those things by their own government, is saying, “what we are going to do now is let them benefit based on their race and discriminate against a certain group of people.” Not groups, but one group of people even by government because of their race. Affirmative action, is the ultimate trying to make up, payback attempt. “These groups of people have been denied their constitutional rights based on race. Now we’re going to pay them back by denying the group that is already doing very well in America.

What we should be doing instead, is enforcing the 1964 Civil Rights Act. That says no Americans will be denied access in America, simply because of their race. And enforce it to the point that we’re not locking people up for violating that law. But hitting them in the pocket books when they do violate that law. And giving that money to their victims, so organizations in America would be hurting their own economic bottom-lines when they practice racism in this country. As well as expanding education and economic opportunities in America in communities that have been left behind economically, as the rest of the country has done well.