Councilman Michael Johnson's
Arizona Informant Column

August 2008

Affirmative Action is not Discrimination, Affirmative Action is the Answer to Discrimination

In a perfect world, the color of a person’s skin, their gender, religious beliefs and anything else that separates one group of people from another would simply be ignored. And it would be nice if in a perfect world when it comes to employment, getting into a good school, obtaining financing and all the rest so many of us take for granted, we would be judged, as Dr. King so eloquently put it, by the content of our character.

But this isn’t a perfect world and discrimination of all types still exists. To try and level the playing field, so everyone has an equal opportunity to strive toward the American Dream, we’ve created some programs to make sure no one is left behind. We call these programs affirmative action. They give no one an unfair advantage. In fact, they were specifically designed to prevent that from happening. Over the years, these programs have provided thousands and thousands of people with opportunities they would have been denied simply because of the color of their skin or nationality. And because of these programs, our workforce is more diverse, college campuses are more diverse and society is a better place.

Now there is a movement afoot to eliminate these affirmative action programs. Advocates of this new movement say we should be judged only on our merits without regard to any other factors. It sounds exactly right. But we know from more than two centuries of American history things just don’t work that way. Minorities and women have historically and systematically been excluded from their share of the American Dream. Affirmative action and similar programs have made sure everyone has the same opportunity. Some will succeed greatly with this opportunity and some will fail but the opportunity is there for all of us.

Eliminating affirmative action is little more than an attempt to return to the bad old days of good old boy networks, bank redlining in minority neighborhoods, less opportunity for many people and a poorer country and society.

If you think these inequalities no longer exist in our country you need look no further than our public school systems. It has been 54 years since the U.S. Supreme Court handed down their Brown v. Board of Education decision that ended the bizarre notion of “separate but equal” public school systems in which minorities were systematically deprived of a quality education. In theory, this decision should have ended segregation in our schools.

Unfortunately, we haven’t been very vigilant. Many public school systems are now more segregated than ever. And minority students are stuck in deteriorating facilities with less funding and far less hope. In fact, a staggering 50% of minority students now drop out of high school before graduating. That just isn’t a part of the American Dream. If we aren’t careful, more and more of our society will become the land of no opportunity for too many of our minorities and women.

That’s why we still need affirmative action programs. They do not favor one group over another as some suggest; they prevent it. They don’t offer undeserving students or businesses opportunities they don’t merit; they provide an opportunity for everyone. They don’t create unfairness, they strive to eliminate it.

We have made enormous progress in this country in the past few decades. Our parents and grandparents would hardly believe a major political party chose their presidential nominee from between two major contenders, one of whom was a woman and the other an African American man. Without programs like affirmative action we’d have never known just how capable both were.

No, despite what you may hear in the coming campaign, affirmative action is not discrimination. Affirmative action is the answer to discrimination and we need it now more than ever. Although we’ve made progress, we still have a long way to go. Affirmative action is one path toward that progress. You voting to protect it is another.

Phoenix City Councilman Michael Johnson represents District 8. His office can be reached at 602-262-7493 or at michael.johnson@phoenix.gov via e-mail.