Is affirmative action still necessary?

A single tree does not make a forest – a single woman/hispanic judge/african american president does not make a trend. When we ignore to refer to Sonia Sotomayor as the first hispanic judge/the president as the first African American president, then we would have arrived as a society................

I think that AA is ultimately self-defeating; it gives rise to an option for minority applicants to slack off and "cheat" the system, while forcing majority individuals to work doubly as hard and succeed anyway. The President adequately addressed this yesterday in his speech pushing minorities to work harder. Does AA serve a good purpose at the moment? Yes. Are we to a point that it needs to be completely scrapped? Probably not. Scaled back, incrementally? I think that's the right course.

As long as there is a Zell Miller and his ilk, there will continue to be a need for Affirmative Action. To actually want "gorilla glue" for the POTUS says it all.

Affirmative Action is simply racial discrimination with another name. Our federal government is the single worst offender in promoting and prolonging discrimination, by continually dividing us all by the color of our skin. To give someone an unfair advantage or deny someone equal treatment, just because of skin color or national heritage, is counter-productive to the elimination of bigotry.

When someone says, "It's time to end affirmative action," what I, as a Chicano, interpret that to mean is: "One of you is enough."

Absolutely!!! Discrimination against women and minorities within the workplace is very much alive and thriving. I work in a white male dominated profession in corporate America. Minorities of all races are noticeably unrepresented in the upper and executive management positions as well as high end technical and engineering managerial positions. It is also very noticeable ithat minorities are not very noticeable within the military branches as well.

I do hope Justice Sotomayor will be sworn in as the new Supreme Court justice.

I do not think she is the right person for the job but today, qualifications no longer matter. I think she will prove to be a complete embarrassment to America at some point.

Affirmative action is absolutely still necessary. Just as the election of Barack Obama does not mean racism has disappeared, it also should not be used as an example to overturn affirmative action.

Affirmative action is still necessary because racism is still very real in 2009. The denial of the black children to swim at the pool club which has been highly publicized by the media over the last week is just one small example of the need. This happedned openly but there are many private incidents that affect minorities in their everyday lives.

Affirmative action may have been necessary at one point in our history, but no longer. The racial prejudices and biases were once so rampant this was something that made things more fair, but now with those prejudices severely weakened it actually causes prejudice. People who have no racial bias now have to consider race, and others who don't get jobs because of affirmative action often develop racial bias because of it. We should just stop considering peoples sex and race all together. It also causes people of race to not work as hard because they know that they can get a job with less work or not work as hard to keep their job because they can claim racial bias.

This quota system is outdated and broken. It needs to be removed.

No affirmative action? This from a caucasian woman whose journalistic "skills" are so blatantly scarce, affirmative "action" surely played a role in her professional rise. It's so typical of white people and all their decendents who have never suffered in this country to downplay the value of the need for affirmative action. It's so easy to go out on the street and find other racists or self-hating blacks to denigrate affirmative action. RACISM EXISTS IN AMERICA, Ms. Costello - whether you choose to broadcast it on AM FIX or not. Get real! You show how out of touch with the "real life in America" by your bigoted and racist commentaries.

Carol,

I really think that AA has outlived it's usefulness. In many respects, I think it was a necessity to try to balance the playing field, but there is also merit to the argument that it promotes reverse discrimination through it's intention to promote fairness. Hire the best qualified and you cant go wrong.

I agree that affirmative action based on race should be eliminated. I don't think people like the children of Pres Obama or Colin Powell should be eligible for affirmative action anymore.
I would shift affirmative action focus to economic disadvantage rather than racial. For example, the kids from Appalachia or children of indefinitely unemployed iron workers regardless of race start out in life with the unlevel playing field that the affirmative action laws were meant to address.

I noticed the majority of people you interviewed do not a have history in America of being LEGALLY discriminated against as American Blacks were. Nice try, Carol but it that doesn't work. Do you really believe that 45 after the Civil Rights Bill was signed Blacks have had the playing field leveled or equalized. The problem is that all other groups who NEVER has the history of legalized discrimination in this country benefits from the affirmative action program. Yes Affirmative Action is needed and it should be directed and geared toward Black Males who are discriminated against and lag behind in all statistics. When a White male with a criminal record can become employed before a Black man with no criminal record, I say things have not changed that much. Sadly that still is the case in pockets of America.

When we can say there is no more "Old Boy Network", we can say it's time to get rid of affirmative action. Otherwise, there is still a place for affirmative action.

Gene
Albany, GA

To know whether affirmative action is still needed, one must look beyond the occupant of the white house and a few successful actors and entertainers. Their success, while amazing and inspirational, is but a blip on the radar in terms of the legacy of oppression and discrimination that people of color have experienced in the US. Moreover, many focus on the supposed lack of fairness in affirmative action. It may not be a perfect system. In reality, few systems are. But as long as the inequities in opportunity, wealth, and educational opportunities persist, there will be a place for affirmative action in our society.

Yes, it's time to abolish all quotas and affirmative action. You have to remember that every time a job or opportunity is given to somebody to fill a quota, somebody who was more qualified was passed over. This, in itself is unfair. It's also counter-productive.

Affirmative Action Programs must be kept in place, until the educational field in America is made level, provided a quaity education for all our childresn..There is still too much inequity in the quality of education provided our children.

It wouldn't if "Affirmative Action" had been truly fully embraced by America/Americans. From it's inception, Affirmative action was under attack to undermine it's promise. Look at the statistics of African/Hispanic progress in America and any reasonable, rationale, fair minded person could easily understand that "legislated fairness e.g. Affirmative Action" is needed now as much as it has ever been.

i believe that affirmative action had its place and has served its purpose. our country has changed. it seems to me that having things like affirmative action and even entertainment channels like BET are holding our country back from changing even further.

a " white middle class" student who has a 4.0 and a perfect record is judged more harshly by college standards than a "female minority" with the same grade. however, the "white middle class" is seen as a group of americans who posess every opportunity. it seems as though " equal opportunity" is only granted to certain groups of people...

affirmative action is no longer needed

Absolutely, affirmative action is still needed since there are clearly inequalities in the US. It's not based on the achievements of individual minorities, it's a tool to help level the playing field to ensure that minorities have the same number of opportunities available. Without affirmative action, there would be less opportunities available for minorities. There is no doubt in my mind that eliminating affirmative action would be counterproductive.

-Daniel D'Agostino
Austin, TX
http://www.envisionCAM.com

Affirmative action is still necessary in this country, because the old practices still alive everywhere; during job interviews, look at how Sonia suffered during her hearing confirmation. All the focus was on Latina comment instead of her work as Judge. Black and Latino kids were denied the pool in Pensylvania.

When we can say the quality of inner city schools is equal to that of suburban schools, then affirmative action won't be necessary. When equally qualified and skilled minorities and women are paid the same as the majority, then affirmative action won't be necessary. When legacy points are no longer in place at major universities and colleges, then affirmative action wont be necessary. When, on average, a minority or woman has the same opportunity to succeed and access to resources as the average majority male, then affirmative action will no longer be necessary.

affirmative action was not brought about because things were fair. It adds a fairness along with diversity to the work place. I will say that the test that are given needs to be revamp with general knowledge question for all, but if math and reading skills are not passed regardless of race you should not be admitted to the job/position you desire. Basically it shouldn't be done away with, but revamped for fairness to all.

Its time to stop blaming white America for being able to pass a employment test jobs go to the best qaulified and thats the way it should be when you put an uncualified person in charge then you put peoples lives in danger and the futhure of a company in danger in other words no afirmitive action this policy is reckless to the health of our country.

Do we still need affirmative action? Of course we do! With headlines like...the achievement gap between white & black students is narrowing...and the U.S. nominates its first Latino Supreme Court Justice...it would seem obvious that we still need affirmative action. Slavery existed in N.America for about 200 years; Jim Crow, legalized the 2nd class citizenship status of black Americans for the next 100 years, is it really possible that in less than one third of that time we have leveled the playing field for minorities in this country? Affirmative action is not fair, neither was slavery or Jim Crow but it is the RIGHT thing to do. Amends must be made. Society has a debt to pay, affirmative action is just a small part of the bill.

The US has come a long ways. The covenants for the house I bought in NC in 1982 and lived in for 18 years stated that I could "house a colored domestic on the premises but could sell the house only to a Caucasian Christian." That was written in 1940. Better, yes; color blind, no. Do the experiment: look through the help wanted adds, write up some resumes, make duplicate resumes with either a white sounding or a black sounding name and see how many you have to send out to get a response. A few years ago when this was done, it took 10 times more applications for a black sounding name to get a response. Unless that changes, affirmative action at least to hold the door open will be necessary.

AA is outdated, even if there is a seeming disparity in racial distribution in some instances. It drives me crazy. On one hand we want to celebrate diversity. I like that a lot. But that means celebrating our cultural differences for the benefits and joy they bring. And those cultural differences are infused into each individual. If we are indeed diverse, then why should every profession, every group, every college department, etc. appear to be a random sample of us? We can't have it both ways. We're either different in a good way, or all the same in a good way. Which is it? I believe we are all equal in rights, but all different in the ways that make us great together. We're not a melting pot, we're a salad bowl, and thank goodness the tomato tastes different than the cucumber.

if you have a field full of sheep. then you realize that you dont have any goats. its going to take some time of allowing just goats in the gate to make it even. when the field looks even than the gate letting the the sheeps and the goats through should be even. i still look at the class of young men coming into my field 15 years after i have and the number are so far off.

Affirmative Action is outdated, the majority of Blacks and Hispanic children are getting into esteemed colleges and universities because of their scores on the S.A.T.'s, G.R.E.'s, M.S.A.T.'s and L.S.A.T.'s. Those that come in via guaranteed transfer programs from community colleges with a G.E.D. realize they need to work harder if they are to remain, however none of these minority individuals need Affirmative Action.

Affirmative Action in the workplace is racist as it gives the less qualified minority individual an edge over a better qualified non-minority individual.

It is time to terminate the Affirmative Action Program!

Affirmative action creates an environment of racial discrimination and distrust. Our goal should be that race and gender do not enter the thoughts and culture of employers and fellow workers. Such true racial equality can never be pervasive with government enforced racial discrimination in place. It is time to end affirmative action.

I am amazed that so many people believe that affirmative action is not necessary. Look around the workplace, minorities still are a very small percentage. Do people really think that without affirmative action they would still be given the same opportunities by those in power. This is naive. Just as with slavery people always want to move on and forget the past. You can't, there are lessons here that must be remembered.

Is Affirmative Action still relevant, listen to Zell Miller, Pat Buchanan, and Rush Limbaugh and you'll have your answer. The sad part about it is we have young people coming along to replace Zell, Pat, and Rush. It is a vicious cycle.

ABSOLUTELY affirmative action should, at this point, be completely disregarded. I am a 35-year-old white woman who, in my entire life, has never looked at race as any kind of issue at all. If anything, programs like "Black In America" and the "Black Music Awards" separate us and take us on a backward slide. It needs to become a non-issue – until then nothing will ever be able to truly change.

Incidentally, I feel the same way about recent comments about our beloved Michael Jackson's career. As much as I loved him, and love him still, I never saw his "color" as any big deal. If it hadn't been him "opening the doors for african-americans" it would have been someone else. The fact is that the times have changed and no one single person can be held responsible. It is all of us as a unit that have accomplished that, and subsequently made programs like affirmative action completely irrelevant.

"When a group of children can attend a camp, go to a local/private or public swimming pool and participate without prejudice, second throught or incident...then affirmative action can go away...forget about the political status quo...when our future can be secured in this way then we will not have to affirm our status anymore.

While the successes of individuals like "soon to be" Justice Sotomayor, President Obama and others deserve to be celebrated, what is really important is to recognize that the racial groups that they represent still have disproportionately high representation at of the bottom all the critical categories of concern – household income, rate of incarceration, AIDS, high school dropout rates, early pregnancy, the list goes on. When these groups who represent a particular % of the population only represent that or near that in in any of the above categories, then and only then will some version of "affimative action" no longer be necessary.

Check out overall corporate appointments relative to race!

Farley Flex, Ajax Ontario

Just because someone with wealth and privilege and people who never understood the need for affirmative action to begin with say affirmative action is not necessary does not mean there is no longer a need for affirmative action.

I think it's insulting to showcase examples of minorities saying affirmative action is a bad thing, when the majority of those people do not represent the experiences of the majority of people of color or disadvantaged groups generally. Those people become tokenized as spokespeople for the majority groups. It's like saying, if this one black person or woman has stopped "complaining' then why can't you?

Just because Obama is president, Hilary Cilinton is secretary of state, Thomas is a justice, and Sotomayor might be a justice does not mean we should pat each other in the back and congratulate ourselves of overcoming a nighmarish era in American history, both for people who experienced discrimination and those who spent their energies claiming "it" was never that bad to begin with.

If you go to public schools in Los Angeles (where I have worked for more than six years), you will find schools that have to be described as de facto segregated.

Los Angeles is terribly segregated, and schools in low income areas are not only overwhelmingly populated by black and latino students, but are also underfunded due to the fact that schools in lower income areas get less money than schools in higher income areas.

There is still an unequal playing field, and it is cruel to tell some people that they should work harder and stop making excuses or "cheating the system" f when other groups get financial and educational privileges and claim they did so because of their inherent superiority (and better study habits).

Of course you can point at a couple of examples and say things are better, but the majority of senators are still white and men. And isn't it ironic that Sonia Sotomayor has to be accused of being a "racist" by a senator (Sessions) who once claimed that the KKK was not so bad until he found out they smoke marijuana.

So NO THINGS ARE NOT BETTER, and people who don't understand the nature of injustice and the current plight of minorities in the US will obviously not understand that.

Here we are in 2009 still talking about affirmative action. I was in elementary school during the height of the civil rights movement, and I can still remember when affirmative action was set in motion. It was the worst thing that could have happened to "Blacks in America". I believe that qualified men and women regardless of race or gender should be considered for employment based solely on their qualifications. Affirmative action is a broken crutch that has out lived its usefulness and should be thrown away.

Affirmative action is necessary. As a country we have not all learned to embrace each. Until everyone see each other as an American and not prefixed by a descriptive word affirmative action is necessary. Born Jamaican but I am now a proud American. I love the motto of my homeland because I believe it aptly apply here in America "Out of Many, One People." When we can say this with pride then at this point we don't need affirmative action because the playing field is level and all have the same opportunity to excel. What we do when we are at this point as a nation would seek to advance all, no matter our racial and gender persuasion. I love America. Change is not easy but we can.

First, I would like to commend CNN for covering this topic–it's an important one. There are a few things that should be addressed before having this conversation. One is to cover what affirmative action actually is, which I think stirs a lot of the debate. One misnomer is that affirmative action is meant to be a quota system–it is not. Affirmative action is meant to give all people an equal opportunity realms such as the job market, education, etc. Again affirmative action is not a quota system. It does not say that you must have 5 women, 5 African Americans, 5 Latinos, etc. It just says that you should consider qualified minorities without bias the same way that you consider white men.

Why did CNN cut off the quote on discrimination that the President gave just now? Suspiciously leaving off his comment about gay brothers and sisters? You included the black woman, latinos, muslims, then cut off his line about gay brothers and sisters. Was it because one of your guests, Mr Dyson has been less than supportive of gay and lesbians?

In the late 1960s I headed the award-winning student newspaper at a major law school. We learned that the law school at a secret affirmative action program. For fear that exposing it would stigmatize the minority (and, perhaps, some female) students we printed nothing about it.

It's now 40+ years later. Women and minorities have made vast progress, and the time has come when people should be admitted to school, hired and fired based solely upon how well they have done or are expected to do, without any consideration of race, gender, religion, etc.

As long as people are still being judge by the color of their skin rather then the content of their character affirmative action is still necessary. When black children have the same opportunities in the public school systems as white children then we will no longer need affimative action. But in the real world many black children have to be extremely passinate about their education just to break even with the average white child. The best educators refuse to teach in the inner city schools which gives many upper class white student an advantage. Many programs in the inner city schools are not being funded finanical which causes the books, materials, computers, etc...to just not be there.
Let's be real and honest...blacks in America have always had to do more with less resources but they are still here and we can't forget them.

We need to remember the treacherous history beyond AA particularly as it applied to African Americans and Women before the 60s. I personally feel that AA has no value as a multi-lingual African American with a BA in INR, instead we have a whole new dynamic in the country that the media refuses to address. During this unrelenting economic downturn, after being laid off from work; however diligently in search of a job every single day that I have been unemployed, and going through a series a interviews, I have been refused work simply because I am not Hispanic. Dozens of employers and placement agencies have refused to hire me becaue I am not Hispanic, and they tell me that it's because I "dont' speak Spanish" but I do. I went through an extensive interview with Brother International, and ultimately the HR Director told me "Although I feel you are an excellent candidate for this posistion, we are looking for someone who is very strong in Spanish." Hispanics are allowed to speak mediocre to poor English but White, Black and Asian Americans are now expected to speak excellent Spanish? Sounds like reverse discrimination!

Some form of affirmative action is still needed. I am a female firefighter that only recieved a chance at becoming a firefighter because my fire department feared being sued after years of keeping woman out. I joined the fire department in 1991. That's 18 years ago. Black men didn't get a chance to join the fire department in any real numbers until the late 1970's. So no I do not think that say forty years of finally being given a chance replaces hundreds of years of being kept out. Unfortunately discrimination still exist esp. within the fire service. And lastly we must look at the educational system in the United States. It was just reported that blacks and Hispanics still lag as it relates to education. Until that to changes affirmative action is needed!

My comments are this regarding affirmative action; If race relations were on a true positive note, then I would say it would be time to think about ending it. However, race relations in America is worse now in retrosp[ect than in many years. While some would argue that because of the election of the president, it proves it's time. I disagree because I see in my everyday life how skin color makes a difference. Doors are not truly opened, it is painted with washable paint that can go in any directions depending upon a given situation.

I would hope that in America that in the next 25 years, all God's children would be treated equally arcoss the board. My late mother use to say, " They let you get high, but not close in the north and in the south they let you get close but not high". An aspect of race relations and politics. It's time at all cost to see Amerincans as one.

I am reminded of this, "what's fair is not always equal and what's equal is not always fair". It's time to let God be our judge and not man or woman.

Affirmative action is discrimination. It hurts the very minority it is suppose to help and it hurts society in Harrison Bergeron style. I am frustrated when I hear reference to “Reverse Discrimination.” All men and women are suppose to be equal under the law, but we assume whites need to be kicked in the teeth to give others opportunity. White males are the only unrecognized minority in the U.S. Today.

All this talk about discrimination in 2009 and not one mention of Gay Americans. A group that is vocally and openly discriminated against every day. Oh yeah, sorry, we forgot CNN is only concerned with being Black in America and Black in America2. Soledad Obrien says "You will not be able to tear yourself away..." Well we ARE about to be able to tear ourselves away....away from CNN and away from their advertisers.

Yes, it will be wonderful to get rid of Affirmative Action. It would be great for people to be hired based on merit, instead of quotas. However there are still groups of people who still cry wolf, racial predjudice, so that they can get their way. They remind me of small children. I am looking forward to getting rid of this Affirmative Action and just having a World where people are looked at as equal, despite their skin color or gender. Is it too Ideal for the moment?

AA SHOULD STAY IN PLACE AFTER WATCHING.THE SOTOMAYOR,HEARING HEY!! O'BOY'S IS STILL OUT THERE BIG TIME BIG!!!!!!!!!TIME!!!!!! RACISM IS STILL ALIVE

Oh my goodness!! Where's Kiran? Mrs. Carrol is just about to make my head explode with her senseless interviews. I know she's trying to make some contrast out of nothing, but please, be prepared before the interviews.

Thank you Carol Costello for raising the unraisable. Preferential treatment was never appropriate and makes little sense now. All immigrant groups suffered some form of discrimination and, like Asian groups today, they met it by working harder and smarter. It would be far more productive if those feeling discrimination today found relief by following this example rather than by looking to the government for preferential treatment.

CNN might also examine itself as an example of preferential treatmant run amuck.

Yes it is still needed and if we didnd have it would be a desaster arround workforce that's overwhelmingly own and manage by my white Bros ans Sis. The AA does not ask them to hire unqualify applicants, it asks them to look at everyone and be divers. I'm a retail store manager and it deplorable how people ignore others bcause of their color. the argument of those who oppose the AA usually give arguments with unfounded notion of people being unqualified, it's a slap on the face for people like me or Barack Obama.

One of the quickly growing groups having to deal with racial discrimination is now becoming the white American male! This non sence needs to end! End this before you fuel the fires of racial discrimination again in the future. The minorities have come a very long way, but it is not only the blacks having this problem. The whites do too. So does the women!! Terrible what happens to a woman in a "mans world" (the work place). Come to think of it, I had a black boss at that time!! So, what does it matter?? Racial discrimination happens to most all groups of people and I believe it will be this way till the end of time! Its not just color and race. It is religion... It is sexual orientation, it is handicaps, and this list goes on! It's not just the black community having to deal with this issue, it is just them who like to keep throwing fuel on the already out of control fire! This really does need to stop! Look at the American Indian, for example! Although they got the short end of the stick, and are discriminated against worse than ANY race on the planet, they do not whine! They hold love for all of mankind! Maybe we should take a lesson from what they teach! They deserved thier freedom! We stripped EVERYTHING from them, and do to this very day! If anyone has the RIGHT to complain, it would be the Indian! This was THIER land to begin with!! (yet no one shows them one ounce of respect) Stop the afirmative action now! It is DISCRIMINATION! What you need to do is put a sock in the mouths of some of the "political preachers" and start looking into equality for all of the people! Then, and oly then, will it be possible for the Americans to just be equal AMERICANS! Not black, not red, not yellow, white, or green! Ok... I may have a problem with green! lol

Bye bye Greg and Matt. So saddened to see you go so quickly! Go to NBC! There is "cherry coated" news for you! You may find some sympathizers on there, but this issue today was not about gay rights! It was about rights and equality for all based on color and race! I am sure that you will have another good arguement for the gay community in the future. This blog is really not about that issue. Good luck to you tho!

With nearly every big issue, there are extremes on both sides. The issue of affirmative action is just like that in my opinion. I think that one extreme is affirmative action must take place even if there are truly more qualified people for the job which test scores or some other tangible method can show. The other extreme is no affirmative action whatsoever where employers can discriminate on purpose.

The answer to this question like with every other major issue I have seen is somewhere in the middle in my opinion. Affirmative action should exist to keep employers honest in the hiring process where they cannot discriminate but it should definitely not guarantee a lesser qualified person a job when they really and truly do not deserve it. In other words, nobody should get a job just because of their race or color alone but they should get the job if they are truly qualified for it regardless of what an employer thinks about their race or color.

I definitely believe that Sonia Sontamayor is “the perfect affirmative action baby” which is what she called herself and I would bet anyone a thousand dollars or more that she would not have been nominated for The Supreme Court right now if she was not a Hispanic woman.

What is not being talked about right now is that President Obama is an affirmative action President. Geraldine Ferraro was absolutely right when she said that Obama would not have been where he was if he was not black. Even CNN's own Roland Martin who is an Obama supporter said on CNN that Obama's race was an issue in the 2008 election. I would also bet anyone a thousand dollars or more that Obama would not be President right now if he was not black and I am a person who agrees with many of Obama's policies and who definitely wants Obama to succeed for the good of the country!

Affirmative action in my opinion is completely out of control right now when it is a major determining factor with who becomes President and who gets nominated to the Supreme Court. The most qualified people should definitely get those jobs in my opinion when so much is at stake if the wrong person becomes President, gets on the Supreme Court, or gets some other very important position because of their race or color as opposed to how truly qualified they are compared to other people!

Sonia Sontamayor is probably qualified to be on the Supreme Court but I am sure that there are many other people who are more qualified than she is who more than likely would have been considered if race did not play a role in Sontamayor's nomination!

Mitch Dworkin

It has it's place during formative years, providing educational opportunities for any diadvantaged children / teens / or to provide educational services for unemployed adults, regardless of race; but it has no place in in civil service selection, job selection, job promotion considerations, etc.

If equality is the basis of our society, then use Af. Action to gain equality in merit, through opportunity; but to deny greater merit in the name of justice is the greatest injustice of all.

Considering that Sotomayor was put up on the stand, and challened for her views, I wanted to point out a couple of relevant concepts. The first is color blindness. This is the belief that all people are equal and that any differences in the power structures in society are from natural causes. Although people who espouse these beliefs are good intentioned, the issue is that they do not recognize their personal responsability in institutional and cultural levels of racism, have less empathy for out groups, and typically have fewer inter-racial/ethnic relationships with folks of equal status. Typically, this also results in what is called covert racism (as opposed to overt) and an unwillingness to commit to social change. Social change necessarily requires those who are advantaged by the color of their skin to give up their unfairly earned privilege (which is an unarguable fact), and is the basis of affirmative action at the systemic level. The republicans challenged Sotomayor because she has said that her perspective as a Latina gives her an advantage that other white people won't have on the supreme court. She was called racist because she doesn't espouse a colorblind attitude like other politicians on Capitol Hill. This is an injustice, and the power structures are wiggling at the uncomfortable fact that the meritocracy that they believe in is not as perfect as their privilege (of being white) has led them believe. Coming into contact with folks of other races, ethnicities, or cultures is a cognitive dissonance causing experience which sometimes has the effect on increasing the ethnocentrism of those individuals who are challenged on their beliefs (I got to where I am solely because of my merit and hard work as an individual vs. I got to where I am, partly due to unfair privilege based on my skin color and the exploitation of other minorities).

Of course it is! If we still have to mention that someone is a minority when we speak of them, it is definitely still necessary.

Dear Carol, If it could be guaranteed that all the safeguards for minorities would be preserved. If we wouldn't have ANY backslidding in the progress that has been made as a result of Affirmative Action. Why would you poise this question in the first place, to create unnecessary controversy? Justice Thomas' view of the world at large is shaded by his experiences in life, he is not a good example in your piece.

After listening to the line of questions from Senator Sessions, I think Affrimative Action programs are still needed.

I'm in the group of the most discriminated people in the United States... I'm a single, white male, with no children.
I have a bachelor's degree and years of experience, but still, after more than a decade of trying, am unable to land a permanent career position with the US Forest Service, National Park Service, or even a state land management agency. If I was black, hispanic, or a woman... I would have found a good job within a matter of days... certainly not years or in my case never. If they want to keep AA, then it should benefit those whom are mostly descriminated against... single white men with no children. Thanks.

There is nothing more racist than afirmative action, it is as much as saying that one race is inferior and needs help to compete against another.

I find it hypocritical that those who benefited from affirmative action now call for its end. It reminds me of the wealthy who benefit from the infrastructure built by our taxes who don't want to pay taxes. Discrimination is still alive and well in our society-we still have a long way to go.

Affirmative Action is a policy instituted to raise up a group or group that are being pushed down. Are we all on the same level? I wish I could say yes, however I am not blind and neither are our minorities. There needs to be a revamp of the program if anything. But until we are all functioning on the same level Affirmative Action cannot be gotten rid of, according to its purpose.

Everyone seems to put an african american face on affirmative action.However,historically white women have benfitted from affirmative action than any other group.Check the stats.

Yes Affirmative Action is still necessary, but I wish it wasn't. If everyone could learn to see others as just people and not as black, white, asian, or whatever, then we wouldn't need it.

Do not be fooled into thinking that just because we have an African American President and one (soon to be) Latina Judge on the Supreme Court that race relations have improved for everyone! There is still plenty of racial and gender discrimination that affects this country.

Affirmative Action has strayed from its original goals in my opinion. A rich Hispanic or African American should have no preference over a rich white, both who were probably given the same access to good school systems in their under 18 years. Instead we should consider implementing a system which focuses on class, rather than race.

We should get rid of Affirmative Action in 20 years, one
generation. By that time the plane should be level.
I'm Caucasian, age 71, and when I was looking for work,
there was a great discrimination against women. There
were MEN'S WANT ADS and WOMEN'S WANT-ADS.
Even with a master's in health, I couldn't get a job because the
jobs were in the men's column. By 2019 things should be
fair, and we can discard this as a needed crutch of the past.

it's time to get rid of affirmative action

Time for it to go away! It does not applaud competence! Who wants to go to an affirmative action doctor? Not me!!

AA should be eliminated. It should never have been implemented in the first place. It's discrimination against other groups in lieu of minorities who may not be as qualified as those the minorities are opposite.

I grew up in a poor, rural, northern town with very few minorities and plenty of peers who could have used a scholarship to college, but their parents couldn't even afford to put food on the table. Too bad they were white – they were very smart students, but when we opened the book of scholarships there was nothing for them.

No. Affirmative action is still neccessary. While there have been advances there is still a lot of catching up to do. What is the rush if races and genders could be denied for 200+ years I it might take more than forty years to balance the inequality. manage it better – YES, get rid of it NO.

As the mother of black male children, in the south. I say please keep affirmative action in place

It is definitely time to put affirmative action to rest! Accomplishments should always be rewarded, not color!

I think "class" based affirmative action is better than "minority status" affirmative action. You see people of all stripes who need a chance/boost/whatever, but the thing that is most likely to bind them is their socioeconomic status, not a minority status.

u cant not deny that people need help. i wish that there was a better way to go about the practices, but all in all we still need it. Live in americas is not going to change over night just because we have a black president. Even he cant fix americas need over night. affirmative action will b a hard lesson learned because people still dont practice it.

I believe that one day affirmative action will no longer be needed. But as long as there are barriers that stop EVERYONE from achieving the SAME basic foundations there will be CERTAIN situations in which affirmative action will still need to be practiced.

We still need it...as the person said, when we can say here is our nominee, and not qualify it with some racial description we may just be there...but whites may want to consider that in some 50 years when they are the minority their grandchildren may need the leg up...just a thought!

I think that affirmative action is still very relevant and important. People have assumed that because there is an African American president and a woman Secetary of State that it is not needed. Those are the minority and the majority of jobs and positions are still very much held by the majority. Until the number of minority positions held equal the amount of minorities in the population then we still need that assurance that it is required to fill a number of positions with minorities.

Affirmative Action is important in America and other places founded on the same bloodshed. We have a Black President because there were no other qualified Candidates! Hello people not because things are equal. As long as I am stalked like an rat in a cat's nest at Neiman Marcus because of my Black Skin we need it. I am successful, smart, intelligent, and have my own money....but I still get treated like crap at high end stores, or many 5 star hotels. I have bell men and front desk folks give a double take as to say " Shouldn't she be entering through the Colored area". Get a clue and a history book. This is a very racist country. A great Country but ...........

What we really need is an understanding that equality and being the same are two different things. We all benefit from multiple perspectives, but we don't need to give advantage to one perspective which we call the truth. Just look at the Sotomayor hearings. What the white guys think is presumed to be accurate. Anybody else's perspective is considered a "viewpoint." Affirmative action brings all kinds of perspectives together. If all it is is a bean counting process, it's worthless. If it makes us learn to understand each other, it's priceless. Barak Obama's experience at the slave dungeons cannot be the same experience as a trip by a white person but both perspectives are incredibly important if we're all going to understand each other and work together to solve problems.

Of course affirmative action should stay in place, and if anything, expanded. Any one who says that we have reached a point where races, genders, religion and social class are "no longer an issue" are almost always part of the supermajority (White Christian Men) who have owned the current system since it was created. We have discriminated against entire groups of people for hundreds of years, in ways that we would condemn other countries for doing, and it will take more than being "colorblind" to fix the mess that the supermajority created.

And yes, I am part of that supermajority, and still know this is true!

I believe the disparities that still exist stem largely from poverty. It feels more and more like there are two Black Americas, two "typical" experiences for women, etc., depending on whether the people involved were raised with enough resources or not. Maybe we shouldn't completely scrap Affirmative Action but replace it with something that offers a hand up to young people who were raised poor.

Affirmative action should stay in place, the reason why is that in the city where I'm from, Detroit, the opportunities for african americans are far outweighed with the WRONG Opportunities. I went to a school where I was a minority and poor, and I did not feel like I was poor because I had a chance. Affirmative Action may have gave me that, and now I am in college. America is about helping the little guy, or in the streets of Detroit, few will live and most will die, and that is what affirmative action is for.

Yes, affirmative action is still necessary, until, in this country, we see equality; not the type of equality that is "given", but equality that is recognized and embraced by all.

The unemplyment figures still show minorities unemployed at twice the majority vote. How can you expect minorities to compete when their elementary and high school environments are totally abysmall. Affirmative action must be for lower income people without regard to race. As long as affirmative action has been racialised there is always going to be tension among the "aggrieved" race.

When urban public schools consistently perform on par with their suburban counterparts, we can certainly end affirmative action. However we currently saddle too many of our children with a substandard education. Until then we will continue to suffer the ills of segregation as surely as we did before Brown V Board of Educaiton, and we will continue to need Affirmative Action.

The Valley Swim Club debacle demonstrates that the playing field is not level: can we think that the high income members actually hire people without considering race, if they can make such hurtful comments in the hearing of young children? Without affirmative action how long would it take to return to the bad old days? I am white.

Affirmative action should be ended. The Connecticut Firefighter case is a great example. Minorities want a test that isn't just based on job knowledge and performance but also on race specific info. What a joke. Judge Sotomayor should be ashamed of her ruling on the case.
If money is a problem then lets address that issue. If an ethnic minority is less qualified it's not right to give that person a job/college because he/she is a minority. It's reverse discrimination.

If we keep it then I think the Senate and House should comply and if we do it will be gone so fast.

I totally agree with the woman who said that AA will be necessary until American society stops classifying people. The funny thing is that I cannot imagine that happening anytime in the next 3 or 4 generations. People of privilege have the ability to think about AA from a privileged view point. The low income or impoverished people of America who still need the assistance of AA need to be given the chance to be educated, so that they can be able to speak about their plight in a way that will be respected by the privileged.

I personally think that it still should be needed, theres still racist people out there, not as much as it was pre- affirmative action back in the 60's and 50's, but I think that if it was forgotten, that we would as a nation creep backwards alil bit.. And some people have criticize as reverse racism, I really dont agree with that argument either. Its really about fairness..

Affirmative action was put into place to help minorities get jobs at a time in our history when they being subjegated. Now it is no longer necessary; even though racism still exists, it has diminished dramatically. People should be given jobs because of their merit, achievements and work ethic, not because of the color of their skin.

I live in middle America and we are truly a melting pot. I work at a large public university where diversity is key. I think affirmative action has outlasted it's usefulness. It is time in this country to realize that we need to stop complaining about things being unfair and start doing whatever it takes to reach our goals. There was a time when affirmative action was necessary to make a more even "playing" field but today we have had years of education that didn't see a difference in race or gender.

I have taught for 30 years. We still need affirmative action in this country. One of our most cherished core values as Americans is equal opportunity for all. Yes, we have come along way towards realizing that goal, but it doesn't take much examination of socioeconomic demographics to see that there is still not a level playing field in this country. Nearly three hundred years of slavery and the institutionalized advantage and privilege that created for European Americans cannot be dismantled in a couple of generations. Among us are many gifted women and people of color whose voices and leadership we need in every arena in American life. We white Americans need to understand affirmative action and need to get to know personally the wonderful diversity of our nation instead of fearing it. We are on our way, but we have not arrived yet.

Yes, affirmative action is still necessary, because since the unemployment rate for blacks (14%), and Hispanics (12%) is high. These numbers reflect the reality. First let's level the numbers and then we can get rid of it.

I think affirmative action should be based on social class rather than race. I see that the biggest hurdle to one's success is the lack of opportunity to reach their goals, not due to race, but rather due to their social economic class. It's hard for anyone, no matter what race, to advance through society from a impoverished home and I think by opening up the doors for these folks, it allows them to advance their social class and therefore making our country a better place. I don't think race should be the determining factor though and to think that way is a bit narrow minded.

Yes affirmative action is still needed, otherwise there would not be a Carol Costello, Soledad O'Brian, Fredricka Whitfield, Suzanne Malveaux, TJ Holmes, Don Lemon, or Rick Sanchez at CNN, just John King, John Roberts, Wolf Blitzer. Jack Cafferty, and Lou Dobbs.

Affirmative action in schools is where the injustice begins. Instead of giving racial minorities preference in top colleges, what about basing an affirmative action plan on economic disadvantage? Isn't that what this is supposed to be about, to give a boost to those whose resources are stunted without their control? Who is in need of more help from the government, a white male from a lower class home or a minority female from an upper class home?

Is affirmative action necessary? Absolutely not! Its alway been my belief that if that 'minority group' (that term means less and less everyday) wants that job they need to go out an earn it it the way everyone else does. Racial preference is _NOT_ fair and needs to disappear.

It is in fact a quota and I've been a victim of it many times. Plus arn't we all created equal? I believe it was a certain member of one of those minority groups that said that! Therefore one might conclude that Affirmative action is not even wanted. Shocking, ain't it!

The unfortunate side of affirmative action is the more qualified people that are turned away because they don't fill a certain quota. Yes, there are success stories, but who's to say that the people who turned away couldn't have suceeded as well.

No it is not required. As a white male in the federal civil service system I was discriminated against and saw poorly qualified people promoted. The recent supreme court ruling illustrates the deep problems it generates – it's a game changer.
I find it offensive to see recent immigrants granted "minority status" with regards to hiring & promotion – they move to the top of the list.
It is very difficult to remain neutral on this issue.
I would like to see CNN cover this issue openly & honestly.

Affirmative Action began in the days of slavery. It was Not born during the Civil Rights Movement. It was a program that allowed the slave master to pay slaves to train Irish Americans to perform such skills as blacksmithing. Those slave (teachers) had to wear a badge. That badge was purchased by the master. Without the badge overseers would be fined if caught training. In the 1960's this same law was reversed to assist African-Americans because they were being kept out of the workforce as a racists action by those who wielded the power to do so.

I feel even the words "affirmative action" are positive. Without this force in place we would see a reversal of fortune.

KEEP IT!

It is a necessary action for minorities. If we are to get rid of labels, I think "minorities" should be eliminated from our speech, especially in a country that has no supposed class system. If we say minority then someone is either superior or major and I thought we were all equal.

The polls cited on affirmative action, like the major opinon leaders do not represent those who suffer disproportionately from discrimination - the reason why affirmative action is still needed. But they get to shape the debate, similar to your set-up piece that weighted the issue toward those who would eliminate Affirmative Action. The underlying premise is that this was a method to bring about equality between the races and other who suffer from social disadvantages. So, since gross inequality still exist in many sectors of society, if Affirmative Action were eliminated what mechanism would be used to affect the goals of the 1964 Civil Rights act and the 14th Amendment to the Constitution?

Affirmative Action has never been truly fair. It places preferences on minority races often at the expense of the majority race. In other words, one person benefits thanks entirely to pigmentation in their skin while another person suffers for the same reason. Nothing shows this more than the recent Supreme Court Ruling on the Firefighters where the more qualified people were denied promotion due to their race. Affirmative Action is wrong and Affirmative Action is racist. Race should not be a determining factor in any part of American society. We must take race out of the equation.

I dont believe we should remove Affirmative Action.. Yes many Minorities have excelled in life but that does not remove our horrific past. Especifically for African Americans we were Africans first. We did not choose to come here. We should not have any barriers against us. Unless The US can uncover our history before slavery properly and effectively and teach us that in our schools. The governmernt will have to compensate us forever, because they robbed us of our history and cultural identity. The worse thing you can do to a group of people.

If you just look at unemployment rates white men vs, black, even college grads. Black, and Hispanic unemployment rates are much higher than whites. Why is that?
When the New Haven Fire Fighters filed into the Senate Hearing Chambers for confirmation, Hellooo people they were all white with one Hispanic they conveniently stuck out front.

Let us not be deceived the playing field is not level, and we still need Affirmitive Action.

The "No Child Left Behind" Act is my problem. Minority students that are 17, still in the 9th grade, and that can't read are being "programmed" graduated from high school.

AA had its place in our history but based on this story and personal experiences, its time has passed. When educational institutions are forced to admit lesser qualified students (no matter what "race" they are) aren't we all suffering? I agree that there are still places that are not color blind, but the sooner the government stops requiring use to list our ethic background, the sooner people will stop thinking there is a difference.

We are not out of the woods yet regarding racial discrimination. Especially when you still have some Senators still hyping on the "Latina Comments" because we have a black president today ,does not mean that Affirmative Action should not continue for the black and minority groups here in America. All those who think Affirmative Action should stop are hiding the issue still under the carpet. That is where it has been for all these years, under the carpet.

Affirmative Action is still necessary! As long as there is a Ku Klux Klan, as long as there is a city like New Orleans which has still not been restored, and as long as we have racist rants being made that incite people in this country to make alarming death threats against any minority who eclipses a milestone established by a non-minority (Tiger Woods, Barack Obama), there will be a need for Affirmative Action.

Affirmative action programs were put into place to ensure the representation of the underrepresented. While the target has shifted around during its existence, it has resulted in more representation of blacks, latinos and females in higher education, corporate America and the political landscape. What is the number of black, latin or female CEO's today vs 20 years ago? What is the number/percentage of females in the news media today vs 15 years ago?

Just sayin', are these changes the result of a natural societal progression or the spectre of affirmative action policies. Until we are truly a color/gender-blind society there will be a role for affirmative action to guarantee the inclusion of non-mainstream Americans.

It is still necessary until we can make the achievement gap disappear. Standardized tests have been proven to be biased but are still in use, urban school districts are underfunded, and first generation students' barriers are enormous. Where is the harm in adjusting requirements to allow for life experiences. Once admitted to school these students are able to do the work, it's not a free pass, it's an adjustment meant to lower a playing field that is uneven. If you don't have boots you can't pull yourself up by the straps. No one wants to admit it but racism does exist and there needs to be institutional corrections to address it.

I certainly don’t think that affirmative action should go away. Many of the individuals who are advocating for the elimination of such action are beneficiaries of affirmative action themselves. Yes we have an African American President, yes we have judges, lawyers, senators yet most of these people are all beneficiaries of this action. Let others benefit from affirmative action too. Let it stay in place. I however, do not believe that it should be abused.

Quota systems that simply promote people on the basis of their minority identification are probably a bad idea in any world. But the idea of affirmative action at its best is that the best and brightest minority people have a chance alongside the majority population's best and brightest. The real issue behind affirmative action's viability is not the accomplishments of minority people but rather the degree of progress that the majority population has shown in reducing its prejudice. Is white society in the USA really progressive enough at this point? Voting for a black man to sit in the White House may suggest a big step forward, but the majority population was divided on that issue. In daily hiring and preference, I'm afraid white people tend to see themselves as normative and favor each other. No, we need affirmative action to protect minority people from this deeply embedded cultural problem.

Affirmative action has worked for blacks, female black and hispanics, and black men, and hispanics. It has NOT worked for white women in the work place or middle aged people who are NOT black or hispanic in the workplace. That's why we still need affirmative action.

There is a NEW type of minority emerging in this country. White females particularly middle aged white women who work along side young generally white supervisors male or female who have never been exposed to the general guidelines of respect.

It is amazing to watch that the vast % of young people today were never raised with even the slightest exposure to manners. Yet in the work environment ALL the preach is teamwork. Teamwork , when you ONLY choose the team because they are in your age group or because they have the same interests in life that you do IS NOT teamwork. Its a process of SELECTION that is DISCRIMINATION and is very covert.

I have 2 children, both with excellent manners and true respect for people of all ages, colors, sizes, etc, etc,etc. I'm very proud that I raised my children to be TRUE AMERICANS. I have worked with some of these NEWBIES who were dragged -up instead of brought up. Believe me this is not over all a generation we should be proud of.

The recent Dear Abby column , that told of a middle aged woman who was dying of cancer and her younger coworkers were making fun of her hair loss at work tells the whole story. Incidents like this unfortunately are NOT isolated.

Affirmative action is VERY NECESSARY , even if all it maintains is the average citizens right to be treated with some form of dignity.

No doubt in my mind Affirmative Action is still needed. Just look around our mosaic society is still not represented in many aspects. I happen to be a woman who would have not been hired in a factory if not for affirminative action, many years ago. I had to prove myself and became the first woman on our Executive Board of our union.

I find it very curious that those groups that benefited from their status – rich, white, usually male never seem to talk about the advantages that race barriers, glass ceilings, the limitations imposed by poverty gave them. I mean in a level playing field can you even imagine George W. Bush getting into Yale?
So much doesn't get asked of the advantaged groups. One wonder what the dialogues would have been like in the Judiciary Committee hearings had all those white male been made to answer questions about how their biases and prejudices impact their decisions.

When affirmative action for white males from privileged families ends, then fine, end it for everyone. For 200 plus year every advantage was given to white males (mostly rich but even poor white males had more power than women or minorities). I am a 63 year old women. The top three academic achievers in my high school class were girls. I was #3. Yet the only one of us that got a scholarship was #1 and her father had been killed in WWII. I believe that had something to do with her getting a scholarship. #2 and I got nothing. Yet boys who graduated 10th and even as far back as 20th got scholarships. Many got full rides to prestigious schools like Notre Dame.

For over 200 years all presidents have been white males. All but three members of SCOTUS......male, mostly white. But suddenly "white men" are discriminated against? Are you kidding me? Look at your shows...dominant "main hosting"....white males. Same on the other cable shows.

White men are getting hysterical when they still dominate the senate, the house, the financial power?

Affirmative action for white males has existed for all of history. For the last two decades women and minorities are making a small dent and now everyone is worried about fairness???? Give me a break.

JJ

Some progress has been made as a result of affirmative action, however more progress is necessary to correct the centuries of racial discrimation's effect. Maybe offering reparations as a bargaining chip can end affirmative action sooner – if those that oppose it are serious!!!

PS. Clarence Thomas needs to retire!!!

Great topic, i am a AA and i've always felt that this discredets those of us who put in the work to grow and strive in life here in America. Let my efforts speak for me. My gains or failure are of my doings.

Most deffinatly If I am a black hatian or latin female I am twice as likely to get a job as apposed to my caucasion counter part same thing if your a male. look at the fireman what they had to go through

I can't believe people are so eager to stop something that really hasn't fixed the problems of this STILL racially divided country. Of course we have people of minority in great positions, but that doesn't mean that all is fair. Actually, I can believe it. The "haves" are always concerned about keeping what they have to themselves. This is the ugly thread this country will NEVER shake and those that don't understand the importance of affimative action don't realize they support that old confederate-like mentally, even if it's subconsciously.

Unforutantely, you have to force people to consider people unike themselves otherwise they wouldn't. They will keep the "all in the family" mentally and we wouldn't have the few that have risen to prominent positions that we do.

Trying to get MOST White employers to hire ANY African American is more difficult than pulling teeth. We are always the last hired and first fired.If American action is removed, andno pressure is kept on employers, Whites will immediately start reverting back to an White workplace.

Besides affirmative action benefitted White women more than anyone else. As soon as it was passed, White men got together to figure out a way to get around it, So they passed a national law claiming that women were minorities in the workplace even though they were 51% of the total population. So when a Black man, or Black woman applied for a job against a White female, the White female generally got hired for the upper level management, or supervisory positions.
She then took that extra 20 or 30 thousand dollars a year home to her White husband and children improving their already good living conditions while the Black man, or Woman remained outside the door wondering when, or if their turn would ever come. So far it really hasn't. Workplace terrorism is also scaring many African Americans away from their jobs.

So AA just needs to me modified so that it benefits Whites less and nonwhites more.

This story always seems to be one sided! I am a 46 year old white male that works in state government. In the past 11 years I have been discriminated many times. Originally when I was trying to get on with the state. I sent out hundreds of applications, but could not get an interview. Finally I got someone on the phone (a black male as I recall) and I finally said look I don't understand what's going on I have several degrees (engineering, computer science, etc) I don't understand why I am not even getting an interview. And the guy said I'll be frank you are a white male. Fianlly I took a lower class job Ops (no benefits) worked for 6 months and got my foot in the door then people knew me. Since then I have been discriminated against many many times mostly women. I applied for a job once didn't even get an interview and my sister worked at that agency and was having trouble with her computer locking up and the woman they hired told her she needed to clean her mouse! Frankly it has become a sore spot with me!!! They hire people (usually women) to be computer people ....but they don't know anything about computers!!! and I do mean NOTHING! I would give anything to have a supervisor that knows more than I do! or at least the basics! thanks for letting me vent.

We need affirmative action until the unemployment rates for Blacks are equal to Whites. I am sorry some Blacks feel cheapen by it but others worked hard to get their position and even harder to maintain that position just because their skin color is not white. I am a Black, Christian woman.

The last time I checked, White America is still showing its prejudice in the form of denying a group of Black children from swimming in a pool control by Whites.

Just because we have a Black president, more to the point, in spite of our having a Black president, we are still seeing racial prejudice in America.

Blacks suffer the most in a lack of jobs, education, health care, and racial attacks. When White America finds no fault in those condemning the likes of Sotomayor, a judge with more on-the-job than any other nominee to the Supreme Court, simply because she is Hispanic; when they want to take a snippet out of a speech that she made years ago and characterize her entire career based upon that snippet – yes, we still need affirmative action against those who would practice discrimination and perform prejudice acts against minorities.

I am a retired veteran of the Viet Nam era. I no longer live in the United States because I am tired of living as a second class citizen within a country that I am still committed to dying for should the time ever arise.

Affirmative Action should only be eliminated when white privilege and, as President Obama talked about in his speech to the NAACP, the legacy of structural inequities is eliminated. You didn't talk about white privilege and the legacy of structural inequities at all during this piece. The attainment of the American dream for many minorities is still very much out of reach. Discrimination and racism are still alive in this country.

"Affirmative Action" is a misnomer. Instead of being used as a tool to prevent discrimination, it is instead used as government mandated justification for giving preferential treatment based on skin color.
Wake up people, this is called "Racism".
The only way to abolish racism, is to make all rules apply to all humans equally. Without special rules based on skin color, for anyone.

I'd love the public to consider that affirmative action programs mirror alumni priviledges and family legacy preferences at universities and in workplaces. What affirmative action establishes is a transparent pipeline very similar to recruitment practices that target key populations. America has made social progress that establishes a bar of performance that supercedes race. Pipelines - affirmative action, alumni privedge, legacy - are crucial to perpetuate the diversity of perspective and harmony that is America. Candidates that merit their positions will prove themselves by their performance. May the best person win, but may we all have the opportunity to win.

I think supporters of AA should take a step back, see that the public's mood is changing, and change strategy.

What should that strategy be? Class and income and how that relates to access to education. All of the growing economies make college universal to those who qualify, while the US more and more makes college less accessible.

We can't fix slavery. We can not fix the genocide of Native Americans for that matter (a topic the media ignores). . But I think we can ALL agree that we are capable of funding national education for our children, and that will not only lift them up, but our United States as well.

If you do away with Affirmation Action then reperations for slavery would be in order. Take the case of Garrett Morgan (Inventor of the traffic light). He could not get a patent on his invention because of his race. He is credited for the invention but his family has not recieved royalties for it. Instead the white person who was able to get the patent due to his race, his family has been recieving royalties. A lot of slaves could not recieve payment for there inventions thus robbing generations of prosperity. While whites have benefited economically from these inventions and did not invent them. Slavery and Jim Crow has robbed blacks of generational wealth
Jim

Affirmative Action will always be necessary as long as minorities and women are denied equal treatment based solely on their race or sex. This Executive Order was never intended to just "give" minorities and women benefits despite their qualifications; it was meant to force racists to hire qualified persons, regardless of race or sex. So until there are no more racists inhibiting the hiring or advancement of people based on race, creed, color, or nationality, we will always need Affirmative Action. We should learn from history, not ignore it.

Until the status quo, white men (and yes white women) can acknowledge that racism exists, that they probably hold some racist beliefs, probably make racist comments, and have benefited from white privilege, there is a need for affirmative action. It is like an alcoholic cannot be recovering until they admit they are an alcoholic. America cannot recover from the historical legacy of racism so intricately woven into our society, until it admits it is indeed a racist!

Affirmative action was a good concept but poorly implemented. It's time for it to go away. There reamin issues that still need to be addressed which affirmative action was unable to resolve. In it's place, we should criminalize the actions of persons that discriminate against race, religion, etc. But the criminalization must be applied rationally. For example, it is reasonably rational to allow the Boy Scouts of America to discriminate on gender as it is rationale to allow the Girl Scouts to discriminate on gender (Boys means males; girls mean females). As well, it is reasonable for an all boys high school to discriminate on gender as it is for an all girls high school to discriminate on gender. Regarding discrimination based on religion it is altogether fitting that religion be considered when considering admission to a private, religious college or seminary. Hope this helps.

The biggest beneficiaries of affirmative action have been women. Chances are very good that Carol would not be where she is if the policies had never been implemented. With the percentages of women and minorities in political leadership and business management still way below the percentages in the general population, we're a long way from being able to do away with affirmative action. What is more pathetic than the whining of white American "victims"?

Unfortunately as a black man, I do understand the argument that AA is reverse discrimination, but is necessary. Minorities in the past and present have experienced higher job losses, less wages, poorer education, higher sub-prime lending, and longer unemployment. This, in my mind implies that either the majority is far superior than other races or minorities are inferior. People should keep in mind that blacks were freed, but also subjected to lifestyles that made the road a lot harder for other races. A Jewish man told me one day that I racist whites would discriminate a lot faster with me than him... Because they have to hear his name first.

On a side note, the first person I heard refering to Sotomayor as a Latina was Sotomayor, so to say that we shouldn't indentify her with her ethnicity may be insulting to someone like her who obviously is proud of her cultural heritage and makes it a major part of her identity.

This has got to be a joke! For one thing affirmative action is NOT synonymous with quotas. I suggest you read the "real" papers regarding affirmative action. When was the last time someone pointed out Bill Gates, The Bush family, T. Boone Pickens, Donald Trump and say that there are plenty of people who have money so we no longer NEED any programs to help those who are poor? We don't because it doesn't make any sense. Whether or not minorities are being fairly represented does not depend on one or two minorities in high places. Because if we truly want to look at affirmative action we have no further to look then white women who benefit far more than anyone else. No one said that since Ginsburg made it to the supreme court all of a sudden white women have made it and need no more help. This question just shows the insane stupidity that exists on CNN.

are you guys serious? affirmative action has nothing to do with "reverse racism," "slacking off" or minorities "cheating the system." to suggest such is simply ignorant.

white people need to recognize the fact that they already have a form of affirmative action. a prime example of that is george w. bush going to yale university. now, you can't seriously suggest that he was admitted to that university for any reason other than his father is a prominent figure.

what we need to get away from is this notion that we live in a meritocracy in this country. i am a black man and i have had a couple of breaks in my life. however, i still had to work hard. affirmative action gives one a foot in the door, it does not guarantee outcomes. if you don't perform, you're out. my god, i am so disappointed and angry at some of these comments. why can't white people see the extent of their privilege?

Any comment coming from a white man in this country will be seen as racist.........Hard work, integrity, and merit will never be replaced. So you can get any job thru a quota but will you be able to keep your job? And better yet will you be seen as an equal on the job. Sorry I will never look at you as being equal fore you did not get your job on merit.

I believe AA is actually holding on to discrimination. It is causing some "white Americans" to hold grudges against "minorities" because they get special favors simply because of the color of their skin. Isn't that exactly the kind of thing we were trying to stop to begin with? And isn't it sad that I really have to use the terms "white American" and "minority". Why can't we all just be people? Proud people? The way it is now, there are too many special colleges and groups and "clubs", if you will, that are for blacks only. That doesn't celebrate the black person and black history. That continues to draw attention to the differences between people. People who should all be the same. Get rid of AA and start treating everyone fairly. EVERYONE!

I am not highly educated, barely made it thru High School, but I know that DISCRIMINATION IS WRONG, AND IF IT'S WRONG TOWARDS ONE GROUP, THEN IT SHOULD BE WRONG FOR ALL GROUPS.

YES! KEEP AFFIRMATIVE ACTION! Corporate CEO's and upper management and many corporations still have a glass ceiling which has not been broken. The large company I work for is historically prejudice against women and minorities and has been sued multiple times, last settlement was $60 Million. I am only one of 4 women in a department of 50 men. I've seen white men brag about how they have the answers to standardized EEI employment tests, which gives them an unfair advantage. I've seen the company purposely post a job which a location as deep in the suburbs but that's actually located at headquarters in the inner city. I've seen them require engineering degrees for positions that have nothing to do with engineering, because they know statistically 80-90% of engineering degree holders are white men. Racism is still here, but many companies have found ways to keep up the same practices as the 50s, just in a more clever way! So yes, keep affirmative action. As a black woman, although I am a college graduate, and I've always passed my employment tests for positions, I wouldn've have a job at this company if it wasn't for AA.

Yes, affirmative action is still necessary. Usually when people refer to affirmative action they are referring to minorities, but white women have been the number one group to benefit from affirmative action. Is the glass ceiling truly broken for everyone or is it okay that a few have made it through and that's enough. Ask Hiliary Clinton supporters how they feel about it. Ask Sonia Sotomayor how she felt about the racial and gender remarks to her that would have never been made to a white male. We all should want a society where everyone can participate without these impossible barriers.

AA is nothing more than a reward for substandard performance. exhibit One our current Supreme Court Nominee. She even states in her words she is a product of the system, she states her grades were not good enough to get into princeton. The AA is nothing more that Category 3 Soldiers being inducted to fight a war just so we have a high enough number of bodies of all races to fill the ranks. The Military long ago stopped inducting Category 3 Soldiers. There is still AA in the promotion process. Look at the facts of who does get the promotions. check out the mix. You might just be supprised. The take a closer look at who got passed over. The proof is in the records. That is if they will let you take a look.

Affirmative Action needs to be retitled.....Equal Education & Exposure. Affirmative Action needs to be CORRECTLY done...that's the real issue. All children in ALL schools in the US (private and public) should be given the same EQUAL education. In the summer, they should all have the opportunities to go to enrichment camps, education reinforment programs, to be able to go to the arts, to travel, learn proper networking skills, be exposed to things that are outside of their neighborhood.....that is affirmative action done the correct way....Otherwise you have a society in which if your family heritage was one that was stripped of education and it has retained a vicious cycle of poor education and poverty you never really get a fair chance to have the American dream. This is a proactive issue and not reactive. If everyone's foundation was correct then we would not need affirmative action...people could be judged on their scores and merits...but we do not live in that society.

Please remember that Obama is probably one of the most qualified Presidents ever as far as a personal resume...he was President of the Harvard Law Review, he graduated the top of his class, he is not an adulterer...only has one marriage...shows to be very in love and loyal to his wife...is half black and white ....so it's not as threatening to some....had to raise the most money ever in history of a Presidential race....and that's how he became President...if Obama had Bush's or MCain's resume of being a poor and average student, divorced, alcoholic...would Obama still have been in office? Just a question...our Black president had to be pretty close to perfect...that's why he is the first one...

One could argue that when the majority privileged use their contacts and networks to get their foot in the door at a young age...so they can eventually hold the majority of the prominent job positions of power and not be judged FULLY on their merit and resume success...that is a form of discrimination. A person born in Appalachia or in some of our rural cities never gets the opportunity to meet and greet. Just a thought when we are so quick to judge.

Many non-minorities would think AA should be eliminated. As an African-American male, I think we are still struggling with race and issues of race. I think people should be real when talking about race. Minorities are still not offered equal rights. It is time out for race. We are still not getting jobs, equal interest rates, and home loans. Well, people say President Obama is black and that should be a sign that we are making progress. That is one instance. What about people who are not getting jobs in Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee because of the color of their skin. The nation voted for the President. If you take a poll of white America, it will show that some people did not vote for Obama because of his skin color and not view. I did not agree with all of his policies, but it was policies vs race. I would have voted for Hillary because of policies and not race vs Mccain.

It is just sad that we are still talking about race. The comment Chief Justice Roberts made about discrimination shows he is out of touch with what really goes on. "Just don't do it." Is he serious? Is he living in today's world? This stuff happens daily.

I think once a certain age group dies out, the country will begin to move forward. The group that says our country is a "White Country." The group that says "We are superior." The group that owned slaves. The group whose parents have taught to look at race.

The children of today rarely look at skin tone. It is a taugh behavior.

Affirmative action may be beneficial at the college admissions level, but nothing more. Once a minority's educational status is leveled with the rest of the field, it should be up to themselves to perform without government assistance or advantages over non-minorities. For example, many minorities graduating from Harvard University had lower initial scores than non-minorities in public colleges. I can accept this, but don't you think it should end here? At what point do we say that enough is enough?

Ideally there would be no need for affirmative action, however, America is not there just yet. Yes, we have have a black president, but not without MUCH discusion about race and fear of the "Bradley Effect". Yes, enrollment is up in colleges and universities for minorities over the past 30 years, but that is largely BECAUSE of affirmative action. One only need to look at minority % in our own US Senate, Corporate America, Law Firm partners or high ranking officials in almost EVERY profession to realize that racism is not dead. Although I think opponents will successfully eradicate it within the next decade, the sad truth is,that we do still need affirmative action. What will be interesting to observe is 100 years from now, long after afirmative action has been abolished, what white america will say once they are the minority in need of affirmative action.

We still need affirmative action, trust me!! I'm a Corporate Recruiter (15 years) and I witness discriminatory hiring practices regularly. As a Human Resources Representative, I'm often asked to recruit a "specific" race for particular jobs. These request come from Hiring Managers of well known "large fortune" companies.

Most deffinatly If I am a black, hatian, or latin female I am twice as likely to get a job as apposed to my caucasion counter part same thing if your a male. look at the fireman what they had to go through.

On the news segment this morning, there was a spin on the "diversity" in workplaces, schools, government, etc. However, most of these places feel that it will look good for them, will receive more money in grants/loans, and/or be fearful of how the public will perceive them. You take away affirmative action now, you give these entities freedom to hire whatever way they want to hire with discrimination. Affirmative action serves as, at best, a guideline against those who may have discriminatory feelings toward others.

When people think affirmative action, they automatically think the old school quota system–just as it was reported this morning. People do not realize that there are affirmative action policies that take EVERYONE into consideration. Such as low-economic people, homosexuals, etc. How is this any different when universities and workplaces give out scholarships/internships based on these identifiers? I guess it just sounds better.

Point blank, America is not over race–not even with President Obama in office.

For affirmative action to be successful, someone or some other group is going to be put at a disadvatage. You're penalizing those that have worked hard to get to a point they can make application to the top schools or a career choice and are unable to qualify because someone who is "considered" a minority is given the advantage whether qualified or not. It's gone way to far and has created another form of discrimination. It needs to be removed.

Yes it needed, the reality is that white americans have had affirmative action on thier side for 200 years, what do you thinks happens when a people are oppressed for a long period of time, while others that have not been qualified have been pushed along & given positions because they look like them. The fact that we have a black president just speaks to the fact that he was two times better than John Mccain, which is usually the case, when african-americans achieve these positions. It is nieve to think, that when 90% of CEO & Sentors, Executives are white & male that it is an equal playing field for woman & minorities. This didn't happen because they were always the most qualified it happen because they have been recieving a form of affirmative action for a long time. We as people natrually like to do business with & promote people that look like us, it is more comfortable & thats is why people biases will always play a role in the hiring process & natrual selection.

As an African American professional with a BSME and MBA that has been downsized during this recession, I can say without hesitation that Affirmative Action needs to be abolished in its current form. What I have found that corporate Amerrica is doing to comply with Affirmative Action is hire white women that are married to white men. Therefore, the bottom line is that Affirmative Action has helped more white families than people of color. What we need is a program to help people of color. I have applied to over 600 jobs and I can tell you that 75% of them were not comfortable with the fact that I was not white. The reason they give you today is “you are not a cultural fit". What does that mean? When I was working, I typically was the only black person at the senior level of authority within the company. Until the people in power (whites) become more comfortable with non-whites, we will always need some type of government program to keep white America somewhat honest and fair.

Sadly AA may be necessary until such a time as when a job application form no longer has the check boxes next to White, Hispanic, African American.... etc. As a nation that supposedly values privacy, race is one issue that tends to be overlooked.

As a leading nation, it is way past the time when America should have graduated to the state of being "colorless" with regards to its people. Luckily most of the youth of today have the right idea... everyone is considered simply a friend, as opposed to a white/black/chinese/hispanic friend. It is my hope that within the next decade, race will be a secondary issue. Hopefully races would have blended enough at that point that it wouldn't matter- consider Canada where inter-racial families are quite the norm, while almost frowned upon in the USA.

So in closing, till there is such a time when there is blindness to skin color, AA should remain in place, as it is the tradition that the predominant color usually gets the better slice of the pie.

I am a 65 year old WASP and always believed that you hire the person MOST qualified for the position even if they are pink with yellow polka dots. The media are a big part of the problem – Obama the first "African American" President – why is he not just Obama, President? Get my drift? m1h2

I recently just graduated from High School, moving onto College. I cant completely say that I got into my college thanks to Afirmative Action, but I am looking forward for that helping me out when I apply for Law School being a Hispanic woman. Afirmative Action, since it is intended to help out the minorities tends to have a negative connotation but its not negative. A program that is intented to help the minorities does not necessary mean that it will only facilitate the entrance of students into elite Universities but it will also help them financially. In our society yes minorities are growing, but discrimination and racism are far away from being gone. Our President is black and we are going to have a woman/hispanic Supreme court judge, when we don't have to use their race or make a big deal about their sex it will be the day when we don't need Afirmative Action.

Affirmative action is absolutely necessary. I am a double minority; I still experience racial discrimination on jobs, and when I apply for a loan, or credit. Affirmative action should not go away, it should be strengthened.

My academic and professional accomplishments are as a result of my very very hard work, determination, and perseverance. However, if affirmative action had not been in place, my foot would have never gotten in the door.

Tina
Baltimore

Affirmative Action ABSOLUTELY is still necessary... just look at the faces on the Judiciary Committee: ALL white and all but 2 are men! Why do people feel that systemic racism that permeates EVERY facet of American life–from where one can live to where he/she can go to school–has been eradicated? Is it realistic to believe that 400+ years of hatred and mistreatment of African-Americans is just "fixed" in 45 years? Come on America, I know we're a newer nation than many, but let's grow up. In fact, just asking this question shows how uninformed we are as a nation.

Affirmative action is still needed. Until we have reach the point where a person's race is not seen, we will continue to live in an unjust America. When we have people who thinks and talk like Pat Bucannon and Rush Limbaugh, who pretend that only White men are qualified to serve on the supreme court, Affrimative action is needed.

cnn sometime your outlook is right...but when people that report
the news for you start talking about a race of people that's not their
race but should be educated enough about that race steps out
of bound .....how dare mrs costello try to get people to disgust whether
or not to get rid of affirmitive action...especially when yesteday she treated the ex black mayor of d.c like a you know what ...but did a 360
with the youngboy siddique seriously do she think any blackman or woman didn't see how she really feels about black people..i'm sorry she needs to stop talking about us ....because all she do is stick her feet in her mouth just like alex castenlano with his bias towards black people..has never said a decent word about obama..never

Affirmitive action is still needed, as long as we still have prejudice in this country and we still do. Just because we have a black president and a woman possible on the supreme court dosn't change anything.
I can't believe people think if we did not have affirmitive action in place that things would be equal. For those that think affirmitive is not needed, let them be discrimanated against and they would have a different take on this subject.

I think Affirmative Action has done wonders to wind minority groups into the mainstream. But I feel its' time has past. What I think is needed now is some way to address Age Discrimination. It seems the club of us "over-50, over qualified, out of work" types is growing every day. This recent recession has certainly allowed employers to shed many in the over 50 ranks. And, we cannot afford to retire! We need some action to protect us!!

Barack Obama and Sonia Sotomayor are anomolies of success, not the rule. The playing field is still not even in job opportunities, promotions, housing and access to financial resources. African-Americans and women are impacted harder by economic downturns like the current recession and are the last to benefit when the recovery occurs. Therefore, affirmative action is necessary to make certain that access to opportunity is fair. After that it's up to the individual to succeed. Sonia Sotomayor and Clarence Thomas acknowledge that they benefitted from affirmative action. I imagine that even Barack and Micelle Obama also benefitted from affirmative action programs. They made the most of an opportunity made available to them. It is still necessary to make certain that the door of opportunity remains open to under-represented groups. You can't depend upon the fox to watch the henhouse. Corporate America at the policy and leadership level, many educational institutions and even cultural/social institutions which provide business linkages are still closed to many. No we must be ever watchful that bias held by many don't close doors of opportunity that can make success stories like Sonia Sotomayor and Clarence Thomas possible.

I have lived in the deep south my entire life and in certain areas we are still years behind the rest of the country when it comes to race relations. As an educator I see discrimination all the time. In many cases it is very blatant. For example, getting promotions with little or no higher education. On the other hand, minorities have to get much higher education or additional training just to keep their jobs. I think that affirmative action may be eliminated in parts of the country but not in all areas. In other words it should be a gradual process

As long as racism remains a problem in the United States, there will continue to be a need for affirmative action. People do not want to talk about issues such as race, prejudices, generalizations, and stereotypes but it all still looms large! You may not have a problem with race, but for everyone of you who claims not to have an issue with race there are many others in this country who do. Some of these people with this warped thinking are hiring managers, College presidents, Deans of schools, etc. These are the same people that you all are expecting to "be fair" and these are the same people that you are saying will hire "the best qualified person". THEY WILL NOT! Affirmative Action still has a place in today's society. Society still has a long way to go!

Although AA will one day be completely unnnessesary, Today is not that day. We are only begining to arrive at a time when minorities aren't completely alienated and singled out as different and desserving of seperate standards.
Untill we stop the seperation we cannot stop to strive for equality.

Is affirmative action what we are using for legal descrimination? Get rid of affirmative action.

I am very tired of the discrimination in this country. I think it is time to get to reality and get over the racism. It really does not matter what the color of your skin is or what your gender is, if you are capable then that is all that should matter. We do not need to give some one a crutch to lean on if they do not need it it will just cripple them instead of allowing them to reach their full potential. In addition, if you want to know what my national origin or my nationality is then give me a box that says AMERICAN on the application.

In 1980 my son was in the wrong hospital in Detroti at the wrong time being born. The hospital was being criticized for having too many minority babies dying. So, they decided to perform infantcide to try and even up the "affirmative action" numbers!!! Took us three long years to nail down the truth. We then became a handicapped family because my son became crippled because he survived the attempted killing. We lost employment jobs everywhere because we were a threat to their health plans. My son endured 14 surgeries, survived five distinct attempts at euthanasia and cost everyone lots of pain and money. In spite of all this my son has graduated from Michigan State University, is still alive, and we managed to stay off welfare, even though I had to take demotions to get a promotion in the federal government civil service because of all their affirmative action programs. NO JUSTICE: No law enforcement agency or law firm would help us.

We have seen the difference in the political positions, but we have not seen the difference in the corporate business. In additon affirmative action was stablish because of white and black difference. As a latino I have seen and experience the descrimination. eg (In my privious job I was the only male latino out of 40 employees in that particular department. Yes they probably met the quotal on the hiring of minority, which includes afro american, and women, as per latinos we still need to affrimative action to protect us. If anything I will said that the affirmative action probably needs to be re-written.

As a high school teacher at an innercity magnet school, I see the difference between students who come from homes with resources like working computers and printers, newspapers, and (most importantly) with educated parents who have high academic expectations for their children and students who come from poor families, with single mothers working two jobs to make ends meet, whose phone lines are forever being cut off because of unpaid bills, and who still struggle to use a computer proficiently. The playing field is not simply tilted; it is deeply angled. There is a world of difference between these students' lives that is overwhelming. We need affirmative action and then some!

I would like to hear to conversation about ending the privileges on college applications where potential students are asked whether they have family who have graduated from the university. If we are going to talk about ending affirmative action; please, let's include "privileged affirmative action" as well.

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, IS NEEDED MORE THAN EVER. THERE IS A BACKLASH IN EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES AND PROMOTIONS FOR MINORITIES FROM JUST THE FACT THAT WE HAVE A BLACK PRESIDENT. THOSE IN CHARGE ARE MORE ANGRY AND WITH THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION BEING SO TIGHT, THEY FEEL COMFORTABLE IN DISCRIMINATING AGAINST MINORITIES. I HAVE EXPERIENCED IT PERSONALLY. I WISH CNN WOULD DO A FOLLOW UP STORY ON THE BACKLASH.

Creating opportunity in a clearly defined prejudicial workplace was fine for that era. College educational admission and financial aid offices should be required to be much more transparent and OPEN their books to reveal the reverse discriminatory practices that have existed for quite awhile. Results/outcomes should have been and must be tracked immediately to demonstrate when, not if, affirmative action should be stopped.

What kind of affirmative action are you talking about? There are several different kinds– running the spectrum from quotas on the strong side to targeting a demographic group in advertising a job on the weakest side. One could certainly be in favor of targeting black applicants without being in favor of quotas. Your framing of the question is ambiguous

Affirmative action programs can be eliminated only when Americans can elect a President, who's mother is not white. Americans followed the old rule, if you have an ounce of black blood you are considered black.

America is not "color blind – yet!"

Reality check: Racism is a live and well, and in Florida alone there are over 25 hate groups. (see the Orlando Sentinel newspaper's archives).

Affirmative Action was placed into Federal Legislation based on stark statistics that indicted an un-level playing field in hiring and promotion opportunities for minorities and women. While the nation has moved forward from specific job groupings that indicated
'zero' female or minority representation in those work groups, the nation is still not color blind nor gender neutral enough for the legislation to come off the Federal Registers.

The words 'affirmative action' has become 'buzzwords' for "assisting Black Americans' quota programs. How about this statistic? A few years back the following data placed my thoughts on affirmative action into a place of stark reality. [3% of top executive jobs in Corporate America are women, yet 53% of the population are women and 52% of the workforce are women]. The figures may need adjusting a bit as time has passed. Those figures paint a dark picture of upward mobility in corporate America.

I have sit with EEOC compliance programs auditors in review of Affirmative Action Plans. I can tell you without hesitation that the auditors first comment to me was, "I will look for quota programs or actions that appear to have been undertaken to satisfy a quota and I will strongly recommend (I SOFTENED THESE TWO WORDS) that all such actions are ceased."

The programs should be amended for Circa 2000 workplace data. If the data shows a lesser need for the programs, amend the programs. Unfortunatekly, the data will probably not warrant a complete revamping of the laws.

There is no legitimate reason why an African-American student should be selected over a better performing white student (such as the case of the girl at Univ of MI a couple of years ago). If I am a white worker with better qualifications, I should be selected over less qualified Hispanics. Obviously vice versa pertains in both cases, as discrimination in ALL cases is wrong.

I will also like to mention that yes minority are bigest group being affected in this times with unemployment. I also see in the comments that affermative action was in place only for blacks, but what we need to be educated is that affirmative aciton was put in place for minorities groups not just black.

I don't think things are as simple as just "getting rid of" affirmative action. Even if government entities are forced to abandon affirmative action policies, that still leaves (the) private sector employers and institutions open to it's use...in both a positive & negative way. However, I DO believe that some form of it is still needed, maybe a plan where socioeconomic background is given primary consideration, and then race & gender given secondary consideration.

I feel that we should keep affirmative action. We can use it if we need to and if we don't need it fine don't use it. I think it would be bad to just do away with it then the problem would come back and it would be hard to pass it again. It would be great if we didn't have to use it but I believe we will have to use it for a long time. When I listen to what many people say about other races.

We need affirmative action as long as we have people like, Mitch Working, who thinks that the only person who would qualify for any meaningful responsible position is Anglo Saxon, judo Christiana, red blooded American. Mitch Dworkin, and his likes want every one who want to be a president or a supreme court justice need to pass the blush test, slap on the face and if the check turn red, then he or she is a true American.
It has been for far long that the other side had been cheating in any way possible to keep the minority in check, by any means necessary, now this so called affirmative action has been in place although it has been sabotaged by people like Clearance Thomas, while he was a commissioner of EEOC, it at least make an employer think twice before discriminating. It is a necessary evil it needs to stay in place.

Having read a lot of the comments, it seems that you people are accusing all caucasions of having the advantages of RICH caucasions. Here's a headline, great wealth well get you favored status no matter what your race is. Leave the white man alone.

When I went to college just a few years ago they had an affirmative action program for inner city kids. You needed to be African American to get into the program. The program forced teachers to raise grades to help these young adults out.. The program also allowed the grades to be adjusted again after with out a teacher's say.

In a few years I'll be in a position to interview people for positions in the company I work for. How am I supposed to feel that some one applying might have a double bumped grades. Affirmative action seems to cause discrimination and and bring out racism.

AA is definitely still needed, just check your unemployment rates, Black men vs white. If you really want a wake up call check unemployment rates among college degree black men vs white.

We just witnessed this week the good old boy network up there in DC trying to keep that well qualified Hispanic woman from reaching the Supreme Court Office.

When they Paraded in the New Haven Fire Fighters, all white men with one Hispanic conveniently placed up front. Helooo people we are not even close to not needing AA.

Discrimination against all minorities especially Blacks is alive and well in the work place, and society.

As a black man, I am embarassed by affirmative action. I feel that affirmative action was needed at one time so we could have a stepping stone to get ahead. I think opportunities are now available for black people if they try for them like anyone else. I do not want someting based on a quota anymore. This is an embarrasement. Also, it will lead to resentment from other races, if it is felt the black man was not qualified for the job. Get rid of affirmative action. Jobs should be based on merit.

Both my wife and I are Civil Servants. Both of us have been passed over for promotions due to the Affirmative Action policy. Me more so than her. In 1973 I took a New York State Troopers exam and scored very high. I was notified that due to a recent law passed that I would not be selected as a trooper. That law was Affirmative Action. For the next 4+ years, local police departments were reluctant to hold entrance exams due to Af A. When the courts ruled in favor of the action, the flood gates opened and local, county and state police exams were held nearly every month to fill the void of attrition. I took as many exams as possible, over 20 in a 12 month period. Always scoring in the low to mid 90's. I had one call in notice for all of that effort. I never became an officer. Instead, I became a Federal worker and after many years of applying I finally became a manager. During that 20 year period I continually applied for higher level positions. I found that I averaged one interview for every 9 position's I applied for. Of those vacant positions, 8 were filled by minorities. I have applied for nearly 50 higher level positions during my career.
Do I feel that Affirmative Action should be abolished?
For my children's sake, YES . Let them and every other American advance their opportunities based on merit.

As a professional aviator I can tell you first hand that affirmative action has damaged my career, and placed less than qualified pilots on the flight decks of the aircraft that the American public flies in. After nearly 15 years I am still fighting to land the job I set out for. Among my qualifications... A BS in aviation, nearly 8000 hours of flight time, 10 years at a major airline, 3 years as a Captain, impeccable training record, no record of violations...I could go on. I am not bragging. The point is that when the airlines were hiring just a couple of years ago I could NOT EVEN GET AN INTERVIEW with a choice company simply because I am a white male! If I were able to check the "minority" box on the application it would have been a sure thing. I know this because I have watched it unfold for the past decade. I have many friends and peers with half my experience that were called immediately simply because they could check that magic box. There have been many many pilots hired into the cockpits of US airliners over the past ten yeas or so with nowhere near my qualifications. Am I bitter? A little. Have I given up? Absolutely NOT! When I finally get that job I'll know it's because I earned it...not because I was able to exploit the system. Rember that there is no such thing as "reverse discriminination".

So as someone literally putting your life in the hands of another you must ask yourself this question.

What is more important to me? Meeting the AA quota or knowing that the most qualified PERSON is flying my aircraft???

Cannot believe that this question is being added. Additionally, after reading the comments above the commentor was not truthful stating that most people had posted statements wanting to do away with Affirmative Action. So having the first "Black President" somehow means that this country has overcome its racism. Why don't you report the number of death threats against Obama because of his skin color and the racist comments made by public officials. Quotas are illegal. Why doesn't CNN discuss legacies and the good-ole boy network, which is how some "whites" are getting into college and jobs.
The trotting out of Clarence Thomas and Kenneth Blackbell was racist in itself. Why are those two always brought out?

Why don't you discuss the number of EEO claims filed a year? Why don't you discuss the disparaties in K-12 education?

AA is not only totally and utterly unnecessary, but it is as backwards as it gets. It is in fact reverse discrimination. Allowing any unqualified person cut the line and take a position that others have EARNED by studying and paying for is ridiculous. I sure don’t want a product of Affirmative Action doing surgery on myself or anyone I know. I have known police officers who were SLAPPED IN THE FACE just like the firefighters were. I know YOU would think differently on this issue if it were YOU who studied, busted your behind, and prepared yourself for the big test and then were passed up for anyone (regardless of race or gender) who is not nearly as qualified as you are for the job. This is and has been an outrage. Who can’t see this? Only those who may possibly benefit from it and those who have been brainwashed to feel guilty for who they are.

As for having to still mention that someone is a minority. Minorities are many times the first to mention the word minority.

The answer is simply YES. Just look at early morning television news programs, including CNN. Hardly a minority face anywhere, The election of the nation's first African American president, does not resolve systematic discrimination that occurs everyday in hirings and promotions in large companies, local, and federal government work places. Things are certainly much improved, but, we are not "there" , yet.

Yes affirmative action need to stay yet since there are lots of reversed discrimination .

Thanks,

A.S

US will be in debt to people of color until they retrieve our past before slavery. We have no true cultural Identity. Americans are forcing us to take on an Identity thats not ours. Is that fair? How can you forget about being stripped from your homeland and brought to a strange place to build up for Europeans. Capitalism was birthed off the backs of Africans and the blood of Indians. That goes for Hispanics too. They are the result of African Imports also to work sugar cane fields and such. Affirmative Action is not enough. We need our cultural Identity back! But until then no programs in place for advancement of people of color should be removed.

Good morning,

I agree that when we stop referring to people as "we have a black in the White House", and "we now have a Latino Judge"; and can with ease refer to people as men and women – that's when "Affirmative Action" will serve no purpose.

Its funny that everything having to do with AA is viewed as black and latino. When in fact affirmative action as helped more economically disadvantaged WHITE men and WHITE woman, asians, and native americans then it has helped latinos and blacks. Which is a good thing as well. I just think people use race to say get rid of it when race isnt the primary factor in most AA instances.

People ASSUME that because someone is black and got a good job over a white person it was because of AA..did you ever stop to think "hmmmm maybe they just didnt like me??" When i dont get a job I have never thought it was because I wasnt white so why is it that when a white person doesnt get a job it is becasue they "werent black". Maybe they just didnt want YOU for the job..period.

Yes AA is still needed in some form because discrimintation still takes place of gender and race. And i hope that white women understand that they have benefited the most and shouldnt be so quick to "get rid of it"

If you believe that access to housing, jobs & certain institutions of learning are free of bias and a thing of the past, you're in denial. All one needs to do is look at the bias recently seen while Black chilldren
trying to access a swimming facility in Phila.(with contract in hand) were denied and verbally insulted. This is the most obvious form of discrimination that stings so painfully. Tell those little children
who had tears in their eyes that they had an equal chance at access. As an adult, I've learned to hold my tears but the sting of the subtle bias that we as black people still experience today is no less painful.
Having an African American President does not mean the playing field is now level. It's a start, but Affirmative Action (not to be confused with a Quota system) is a necessary tool to deal with and adjust for the more subtle forms of bias and racism that continue to threaten me and my children's chance at realizing the American Dream.

once you have equal education and hiring is based on test results with race not put on applications and interviews for jobs that can be done online or by phone, race should not be an issue...affirmative action or quotas itself is discrimination... and has no place at this time in this country, and while im taking the time to write this,the u.s. is an english speaking country my father had to learn english.i should not have to speak spanish to get the majority of local ,state , or federal jobs.i do not want a bilingual country,however learning a second language of our choice..... is always a good idea

A comment for "Justice Hoffiman": Networks like BET and institutions like HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges & Universities) and the NAACP were formed out of necessity b/c of the exclusion of Blacks in so-called majority institutions. So while CNN or FOX News aren't called white news stations, we know who owns them and to whom they cater. Let's not blame Black institutions for creating or keeping alive racial divisions in this country.

Every time Affirmative Action is mentioned the only people who are included are color, sex, and ethnicity. At no time have I heard people with handicaps mentioned. This is also included in the Affirmative Action law and is the reason why my husband got a job 29-1/2 years ago. He is an amputee, minus his left leg due to cancer. He had just been diagnosed with minor heart problems, but every time he filled out an application either he lied or knew whoever looked at that application would not get past his medical history and look at his qualifications. It was because and only because of Affirmative Action that company personnel departments were forced to look beyond his other medical history. He gave that company 28 years of loyalty, was called back twice after retiring, finally retiring for good last year.

Also, I'm with the one woman who said that the day we don't look at a Supreme Court nominee because of her sex and ethnicity is the day Affirmative Action is not needed any longer. I have tried very hard for a number of years to become colorblind. I also try very hard to not use sex, color or ethnicity when I talk about someone.

I can remember cautioning a Judicial nominee about his comments. He was "bragging" about his black and homosexual friends at a NOW meeting. Obviously, that didn't go over well. I took him aside the next time I saw him and told him about driving two elderly friends to night meetings. One was a black woman. I didn't call her my black friend, she was my friend who happened to be black. He got the message.

Carol, I am a 57 year old vet...After serving my country,I came home to affirmative action in the 1970's. I wanted a job that would have retirement..I Tried the Ohio state Troopers,Firefigters,Lineman for the power company and so on..I was told each time I could not be hired because I was white and the positions were to be filled by Minorities and women...Wow ,how fair is that!!! I am so tired of this Race Thing ,we are all equal... Affirmative Action Destroys a persons Dreams. Thanks for listening, Don

A white person will never say a better qualified person of color should be selected to get the job that they want. Do an EEOC search, new cases are popping up everyday where the less qualified whites are getting positions over higher qualified people of color...hmmmm why is that?

Yes, affirmative action is still needed. You still have a society where qualifications do not count more than skin color, gender or age. Groups have learned to "spin" their bias. It is hard to put the genie back into the bottle after it was released but that was what happen when years of discrimination established an imbalanced in practices. All discrimination is wrong but the scares of discrimination will live in infamy.

To say that Affirmative Action is no longer necessary is, at best, naive and ignorant. When will Americans really grasp the pitfalls of only looking at one's own community in order to judge the needs of others? It seems odd that a country that so proudly boasts operating within the fundamentals of Christianity can't embrace the idea that we need to take care of each other. If everyone in the US were given a month or even a week to experience first hand the poor education, policing, health care, and lack of work opportunities that so many of our fellow citizens are born into due to our socio-economic gaps, they might think differently. Affirmative Action is NOT about hand-outs or creating people who don't work, it's about remembering to include those who are from the communities we, as a country, have so easily left behind.

Affirmative action, for me, was reverse discrimination. I was more qualitifed for a job but lost the race simply because an affirmative action quota had to be filled. It changed my life. Being caucasion and a woman was a racial barrier. People should be judged by qualifcations, not by race. I vote to abolish Affirmative Action.

I want to comment on your question about affimative action. My son was attending a all boys private school in Ohio and was labled with a behavior problem due to typical class clowning in class. But there were white males inthis school that #1. made bomb threat, #2. drugs in locker and lastly making sexual advantages on other students and had no lable put on them. There has been major problems at this private school concerning minorities and my son was ask not to return along with several other minorities due to reasons that was not major comparing to what I mention about the white males. They even had a major meeting less than a month ago due to racial issues. WE STIIL NEED THIS ACTION TO STAY IN PLACE!!!! There is major racism still especially in Ohio and I plan to be heard about my son's situation. There was no way he deserved this treatment. Please contact me if you need more information.

Of coarse its time to stop discrimination based on a race! How can we improve race relations with this kind of discrimination !

The next time you think on AA remember it is every where. Airlines like Northwest now part of Delta or United, (United was sued and now Hires Quotas of unqualified people because the government mandated that they have too.) (in's not fair) Airlines that hire unqualified pilots because the will be sued if they do not. This rises cost on the airlines we have to pay in higher ticket costs. Now some of there pilots will never upgrade to fly with out a buddy captain but what happens if they leave to go to another company? Sometimes they end up in the training department teaching others , (not the right way of teaching others to fly..safety I think not)

Some Jobs don't have the luxury to hire unqualified people with your safety, think of that the next time you get on a plan.

PS: Some insurance companies refuse to insure plans at companies like: United, because the odds are there will be accidents.

other Bad AA caused jobs:
Female fire fighters that carry the load...safety? ...not qualified.

Or like the teachers like in NY that get paid not to teach (because of AA) they graduated to teach but cant read English or Math. So they show up to a School and sit in a room with other non qualified teachers. They get paid tax payer money not to teach.

In Times like today tax or grant money can not fund these useless efforts to be fair.

Great question! We all have to earn what we get, AA might have got B. Obama in the door at Harvard??? But I like to think he earned it because he did the work.

Yes, Affirmative Action is necessary and is still ignored. In 30 years 8 candidates who qualified for flight school in the Il. National Guard, but were refused, went on to become airline or Air Force pilots. The same pre Tuskegee attitude exists that Blacks can't fly helicopters. Even with affirmative action, bias commanders prevent minoity flight school applicants from advancing. No African American or Hispanic pilots or Officers in the Aviation units in Chicago...We not only need affirmative action but basic EEO laws to be spotlighted.

AM is still needed becuase it's a way to make sure that when discrimination
Happens there is a legal way of deadilng with it, also speaking from an
immigrants point of view this law also it keeps business owners
From abusing or taking advantage of minorities and women.

Yes! affirmintive action is still needed now more than ever.
Those that say it is not needed probably was helped by affirmintive action to get in school or get positions in employment, now it's not needed. Believe me affirmintive is still needed!

I'm sure that it feels NICE to say, Affirmative Action is not needed. But that nice feeling is like any other high...temporary and quite possibly harmful. Most people who say it have no real understanding of Affirmative action, who it's REALLY benefited most and what it seeks to accomplish. If a manager poorly administers the program, it is not the fault of Affirmative Action and it certainly does not point to a lack of a NEED for it.

A black president is a job earned by ONE person. It has nothing to do with Joe Racist/Sexist who holds all the control over positions in organizations across this country. It also has nothing to do with Jane "I don't See Race and I also haven't hired AnY PEOPLE of COLOR". I totally understand why people want to receive CREDIT for being different from their parents and grandparents...but folks, that DOES NOT mean that CONDITIONS have changed just because you're patting yourself on the back for being "evolved."

So for those who want to get rid of Afirmative Action why not suggest that we do it in phases. Maybe we should start with it no longer counting for white women, since they apparently no longer need it, nor want it, based on the interviews on CNN.

Like everyone else, I enjoyed the lull of the we are one tune floating in my head. That tune ended on an oh so memorable day when as the only African American Manager at a large charity, I received the most VILE racist and sexist letter threatening me and other African Americans in the organization. Folks this wasnt in the sixties it was a mere TWO YEARS AGO in METROPOLITAN ATLANTA, the home of CNN.

That the system actually now PISSES PEOPLE off, who have LOST ABSOLUTELY NOTHING tells you that it is VERY MUCH SO NEEDED and will be for a long time. By the way, the best sign of REACHING is to quote Justice Clarence Thomas when looking for what "progressive blacks" think about this topic.

Be well.

I see some irony when a cable network asks whether affirmative action is still needed, has an anchor say that we need to think of ourselves without labels, and then cuts to a promo for "Black in America 2."
When we stop labelling ourselves, when we have a special series on "American in America 2," then we'll be making positive strides. Highlight our similarities, our strengths, our unifying factors - a focus on our differences and repeating a litany of grudges and grievances can only perpetuate that schism.

Yes, for minorities. There are always been affirmitive action for non-minorities. The children of alumnis, children of contributors etc. How do you explains children of presidents, senators get into collages even if they don't have the grades. Ex. President Bush.

I'm a biracial man and am often engaged in dialogue about race related issues with my white side of the family. Time and again have I heard my cousin gripe about how he did not get accepted into the law school of his choosing because of Affirmative Action. Now that we have a Black president, it "affirms" his belief that the playing field has been leveled and that AA is irrelevant. I attended both a private and state school for college and the number of colored faces that I saw were far and few in-between. Often I encountered more Asians than any other demographic outside of whites. As far as comments made by some Blacks i.e., Clarence Thomas, that AA robbed them of their true achievement; I believe that because of AA they were given the opportunity to achieve at that level. The issue is not as simple as saying "I believe that AA is necessary or not." That statistics for people of color in regards to high school attrition, college enrollment, prison incarceration, teen pregnancy, and teen violence make it clear that AA is as relevant today as it was in the 1960's. These are not only endemic issues related to culture that the culture needs to deal with, but also an issue born out of the systematic oppression evidenced in biased public policy and a prejudice legal system just to name a couple.

This question is disturbing on so many levels; but I am not sure if the question or the comments here are more unsettling. Affirmative Action was designed to right past wrongs. The Supreme Court, president, and legsilators who all constructed dfferent parts of this system in the 160s understood–with no uncertainty– that African Americans had faced long term and ongoing discrimination. No one dsiputed that back then. That discrimination not only spread across social, economic and political sectors, but also denied and limited African Americans' life's opportunities. All one had to do was look at most of the nation's colleges, corportaions, state and local government, etc to see the effects of that discrimination.

As Americans we need to be wiser. Just because there has been one African American president, 3 African American senators in 100 years and two African American Supreme Court Justices in 200 years and a handful of African- American millionaires, some whites and others feel threatened by the one-half of one percent who actually break through the walls of discrimination. It is ludicrous and assinine to think that these few examples are evidence that Affirmative Action is no longer needed. President Obama and other examples are EXCEPTIONS, not the rule. The truth is that despite the African American president, the everyday political and economic status of African Americans has not and will not get any better.
There will always be a few who rise through discrimination and become successful, but the MASSES of African Americans are still trapped in that disrimination that was set in place so long ago. The measure of African Americans' full integration into society and access to equal opportunity should not be measured by the EXCEPTIONS, but by the progress of the MASSES. How can we ask such a question when this country is more segregated that it was in 1950 and when African American males are being shuttled in prisons quicker than they are into colleges (all the while America, land of the free, had the highest prison popluation in the world–and most of those are African Americans). In 2009, it is still surprising when I meet an African-American chemist or surgeon or professor. That is NOT because the desire is not there, but the fact that there are real barriers that begin in our separate and unequal school elementary and sceondary systems.
Questions like these are quite perncious–especially since most Americans are not very educated or informed about African Americans status or our struggles. I am shocked that the same channel that will next week host Black in America would be asking such a question. Such questions strike at the heart of a mentality that African Americans are "taking over" and to put it bluntly, go far in stoking racial resentment. After the Civil War when the former confederates state and local officials were stripped of their rights to vote, African Americans, armed with their new right to vote, stepped in to fill those offices. African Americans served in state and local governments in unprecedented numbers. And the battlecry used to get them out of office began with the mentality that they were "taking over." Journalists and others wrote editorials about how the darker race was taking over the government and created hysteria over the idea. The result: what some would call the darkest hour in American History. African Americans were denied political power for another 100 years.

That mentality that African Americans are dominating not only moved some whites to grossly inhumane acts like lynching, but also inspired everyday discrimination–which is always more persistent and destuctive in the long term– including moving out of the neighborhood when black families moved in, denying African Americans business and real estate loans, sabotage of African American co-workers, teaching ones children to "stay away" from the African American children at school, filing law-suits claiming reverse discrimination, etc.
Please, I beg you CNN, ask more responsible questions like, "why does racial inequality persist despite having one African American Senator, two Latino Senators and an African American president? "
Another, even BETTER question is "Why are so many white women opposed to Affirmative Action when all data proves that they ARE AND HAVE BEEN THE BIGGEST beneficiaries of it?" The irony there is that they were not even part of the original vision of Affirmative Action. Most Americans do not know that white women benefit more than African Americans. If they knew that, I do not think they would speak out against themselves. SO instead of stoking old myths and fires of "black dominance", CNN, why not educate your viewers so that the myths are DISPELLED once and for all? I found it sadly amusing that the very person who led this story was herself–as a white woman-a beneficiary of Affirmative Action–whether she knows it or not. I also noticed that many of the people in your clip who opposed it are people of color. That suggests that they themselves (like most white women) may be blinded by the mythology that the media passes off as truth. Please use the media to educate, inform, dispel myths and ultimately heal racial divides–not to fan old flames of racial resentment because we FINALLY have a person of color on the wall of presidents.

Affirmitive Action was a good idea that in the usual congressional way was warped out of original intent. Not only did it evolve into a quota system, it lowered our country's educational standards to where we are now no longer the top rated educational system in the world. We rewarded incompetentcy and neglected merit and talent. It has also generated non-minority resentment and a backlash by those that have suffered through reverse discrimination which gices birth to hidden racism. Constitutional "equal protection" and also "the pursuit of happiness" should be available to all citizens of our once great country. Affirmitive Action reminds me of the old saying "the class can only advance as fast as the slowest stuident" Every citizen must ask themselves "has America improved since affirmitive action was implemented ? It's time to STOP THE DECAY of our society !

Yes I do think Affirative Action is still needed, people need to understand that the reason there is such a vast difference with things as Employment in relation to the unemployment numbers in this Country start from childhood. Most States do not have a system in place to ensure the same dollars spent on students from middle to upper class communities compared to lower income to poor communities. I grew up in the inner city of Chicago in a middle to lower income community, when I reach High School I was not prepared for the required academics. I am now 43 years old and a single parent with a 17 year old daughter whom I have been raising in a Surburb in Northern Cook County my daughter has had the opportunity to be in a very good school district for Elementry School; Junior High and now High School which is Maine East High School that many prominent people today once attended. My daughter is
Bi-Lingual her second language beeing Spanish, she just received her ACT score which was a 21 on both her first time and second time and I know for a fact that it was me being able to afford to live in the area we do where the District spends on each student aproximately $7, 600.00 per student. If you have generations of children being taught on a substandard level to their counterparts there will always be vast differences in Employment; Health Care and every important aspect of life. Look at the numbers of voter turning out in weel to do communities compared to poor comunities, it starts with Education and until each student is receiving equal dollars and not just based on division based on Property Taxes we will always need this system in place to ballance out what has been unfairly withheld from certain groups based on income.

Some people complain of Socialism. Welfare and AA Are socialistic concepts. You can not raise the bar for everyone (including Politicians) if you keep giving out freebies to everyone.

YES! Affirmative action is still necessary, and should be expanded.
Having an African-American as our President does not mean that racism no longer exists. President Obama was elected to run our country because he was the most qualified candidate. There is a silent majority of racist and racist thinking that still exists in the United States today.

CNN's Carol Costello, are you forgetting that only a few weeks ago in the City of "Brotherly Love" 65 African-American youth were denied access to a swimming club because of the color of their skin? In California, and other states, enrollment is down of African-American students in colleges as a result of Ward Connerly's attempts to get rid of racial preferences. Now the number of under represented minorities in the University of California system is at an all time low, If one were to look solely at the racial makeup of the NCAA basketball and football teams, one would think that there should be a large percentage of African-Americans on campus in non-sports related disciplines. Unfortunately this is not the case.

Today you can still count in the single digits the percentage of African-Americans that are running, or are executives, at Fortune 500 companies.

It is ridiculous to think that Affirmative Action is no longer necessary. Racial diversity is needed in almost every professional industry. African-Americans still face racial discrimination in education, job promotions, home loan applications, and justice in general. The unbalanced number of African-Americans in prison based on their population in the US, does not mean that Whites are NOT committing crimes (e.g.Bernie Madoff, Enron, Worldcom). Whites are getting less harsh sentences, if they are even charged at all, and hardly ever fall prey to mandatory minimums or the 3 strikes law.

Cocaine offenders usually do NOT receive harsh prison sentences for having almost 10 times the amount of cocaine than a person with a negligible amount of crack cocaine. Unbelievably The crack user gets the harsher sentence. This type of injustice is yet another subtle form of racial discrimination.`The way the laws are now, the cocaine user gets probation with little or no jail time and community service, while the person with a table spoon of crack usually goes to hard core jail for years.

Carol Costello, if affirmative action was not a part of America's history, you probably would not have had the opportunities you have had that have lead you to have be a contributor with CNN.

Let's not forget that not even 50 years ago, African-Americans were killed by police and racist groups for marching peacefully for various forms of freedom and their human rights.
Affrimative Action is needed, and should be expanded so there can TRULY be Liberty and Justice for ALL.

As a former overseas employee at the Johns Hopkins University, I can say that discrimination is still going on in America. I was not treated equally by one of my coordinators simply because I came from a latin American country. He was a good person underneath, but he never showed any interest or consideration for my work, in spite of the fact that I was doing a great job. Also, as a teacher, I was able to see a lot of differences among different ethnic groups in America. I still do not understand why Americans are so worried about races and why being white and anglosaxon is still a plus. America has been built with the aid of different races from all continents of our planet and the color of your skin does not guarantee being superior if compared to others. we are simply humans who belong to a unique human race. We eat, sleep, work and die and no superior race has ever overcome those simple issues, at least that I'm aware of.

Yes, Affirmative Action is still needed in this country. Until a white boss does not feel threatened by a smart black man who is on top of his game. When that boss stops walking around making comments that "we are in the minority" and stop promoting white men and white woman who are unqualified for the positions he promotes them to. When that white boss stops ignoring the value that black man brings to the company and stop working to get rid of him. Including practicing subliminal racism that is hard to prove in a court of law. Like ignoring that man in meetings, going to his subordinates for info he needs instead of dealing with you directly and deliberately keep him out of the loop when it comes to important information he needs to perform his job. When I can go to bed at night (like most white women in my neighborhood and not worry about my son being harrassed by a white cop who assumes because he is black he does not belong in the neighborhood or is up to no good. When my son stops being verbally abused in his neighborhood, when a traing truck owned by a big corporation (full of white trainees) rolls back into his car and he calls the the police and they arrive and walked by him to get the white mans statement first and then proceed to verbally abuse him and continue even when I get there and I have to stand there helpless, with a black officer telling me "oh he is just passionate about his job". but does nothing to stop the abuse because he is just as scared for his job or when he has to depend on that white Officer to over him in a dangerous situation. Until, I don't have to watch my son cry like a baby (he was 21 yrs. old, 23 now) and say how much he hates Alabama. Until, I can feel safe enough to follow the advice of a friend who is in the System to file a report and can do so without fearing that my son will be targeted by the police. Until a Latina, Black, Asian whichever minority can say that the some of their experiences makes them who they are without being laid into by a bunch of privillage white men, who in just about everything they do, is influence by their privillages their white skin allow them. Until, we can have testing developed that fairly assess the ability of the total make up of the American landscape. Until all children are given the same opportunities to good health and the same quality schools, so they can reach their full God given potential.

The mere fact that people (white people) are asking "should affirmative action be done away with?" is a sign we still have a way to go for equality and justice for all. Just less then eight years ago I was told by an Alabama company they would not hire a black salesman. I believe that this program is more then numbers. It's a way of reeducating people from the old way white people believed and are taught how things should be in America. When we fully learn to live together, affirmative action will automatically cease. For my white friends who feel they have experienced reverse discrimination, I say, this is what we have experienced for centuries. And must happen from time to time until balance is restored.

I like how all of the sudden AA can be even considered as if it's not needed anymore. Just because the minorities of this country have a "break" and are getting jobs and making a name for themselves, does not mean that "it's your turn now" Is the non-minority's now claiming that "enough is enough, you've had your time to get out there....let's get rid of AA so we can go back to slacking off ourselves." That's basically what it sounds like. Why not just force yourself to think outside the box? Instead of the changing the rules, once again, in order to fit your passive lifestyles?

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? HAVE PEOPLE FORGOTTEN WHY WE NEEDED (AA) IN THE FIRST PLACE? AS LONG AS THERE IS JUST THE HINT OF DISCRIMINATION IS HOW LONG WE NEED (AA) I DO NOT BELIEVE THERE WOULD BE AS MANY SUCCESSFUL MINORITIES INCLUDING WOMEN WHO HAVE REACHED SUCH A LEVEL OF SUCCESS OR ACCOMPLISHMENT IF NOT FOR (AA). YES WE STILL NEED (AA) BECAUSE I EXPERIENCE DISCRIMINATION STILL BY THOSE WHO DISPLAY THAT TYPE OF THINKING SOMETIMES OUTWARDLY AND BY THOSE WHO ARE DISCRETE,BUT YOU KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON. I NEEDED (AA) WHEN I DECIDED TO GO TO NURSING SCHOOL AND NOW EVEN IN MY WORK PLACE FOR MILW COUNTY IT IS STILL A PROBLEM THANK GOODNESS WE HAVE SOME RECOURSE FOR THOSE BEHAVIORS

Afirmative Action, is still neccessary, in the U.S. until some races, stop thinking they are entitled to jobs, housing, etc., yes we still will need AA.

CNN should look at their file footage, Black in America it will sum it all up. How could a Black man with a college degree, still be valued less than a White man with a felony conviction.

With only two women in the Senate and 51% of our population female, AA is needed for each state to be required by law to elect one woman senator.

As the "NEW" minority, or in reality an age old one, though never TRULY ADDRESSED and a multitude of "Minorities" consistently taking the fore-front we, I fear will continue to be pushed on the back burner, yet again. The minority I speak of are the cross-over group of once "throw away children," (of a "baby boomer generation," now in their adulthood") without regard to age, sex, color, etc.,; but, because of how they were forced to raise themselves if you will, were and continue to be left in the dust, just as when they were over a century ago. I AM one of those "THROW AWAYS," (a white, american, female) who, was DENIED a "FORMAL" elemental education, simply because of not having immunization records and a "parents" signature. Nothing was EVER handed to me, but earned in a very long and tedious process. I educated myself, got a GED, and as an adult (30's) went on to become a REGISTERED NURSE, with a minor degree in science, while operating a home-based business, and raising a child and husband! I graduated with a 3.98/4.0 GPA, Phi Theta Kappa, National Deans List, etc. and fought for every single bit of it, NOTHING was given to me, but had I been perhaps of another color, or of another ethnic origin might things have been different...I must wonder? My dream was to be a doctor,not a nurse, and my intellectual scores and life achievements, speak for themselves, but even in a time of the "WOMENS LIBERATION" they seemed to be just words to passively lip talk; while, in reality equated to look the other way. If an "affirmative action" movement IS to remain in effect I, as now a disabled RN (on a fixed SSDI income, after making in upwards of $90,000.00/yr) do believe it needs to be revised to address those of us who by NO choice of our own, but just because, were left behind and many of us by clawing our way up without, assistance or recognition and because of the lives we were FORCED to SURVIVE, are either disabled, homeless, indebted to many, and still being FORCED to SURVIVE, while other "MINORITIES" continue to reap the benefits simply because of an antiquated "affirmative action" movement that has left those like myself chased by creditor, when having to "borrow from Peter to pay Paul" to coin a phrase, wondering if and when our SSDI will be no more, despite the fact, it was our tax dollars, that created those funds, or what is worse to come? In conclusion if the "AMERICAN BORN PEOPLE" are not addressed as a single unit regardless of their monetary, race, age,etc, when speaking to "affirmative action" then where dare I say is the affirmation (?) there is none and therefore should in MY opinion be discarded, just as those of us were and continue to be...

Until you remove the box that says anything other than Human we will not continue to move on past race.

Since the Republicans have always been against Civil Rights and diversity, they are using Obama's election as an excuse to get rid of AA despite the statistics that women doctors make 55% of what men doctors make. Institutional discrimination is still alive and well and the Republicans don't want to do a darn thing about it.

No after the election of the first "HALF" Black and "HALF" White President, no we don't need Affirmative Action which is a code phrase for "Always hire the Balck guy first, before you hire any European Americans! "

Typical Black racist comment By Debbie Jackson on this blog: It’s so typical of white people and all their decendents who have never suffered in this country to downplay the value of the need for affirmative action. It’s so easy to go out on the street and find other racists or self-hating blacks to denigrate affirmative action.

No Debbie, European Americans have suffered greatly thru the years at the hands of your brothers. We have been robbed, raped and murdered at rates 8 times that of Whites or any other ethnical group. Our homes and neighborhoods have been decimated, especially in the Midwest and Northern cities. Miles and miles of your groups destruction line south Chicago and that's just one city. You have sufferred in no such way. You benefit in everyway because you live in this country instead of the corrupted, gang filled and third world hell whole that you could be from. You owe European Americans soooo much!

You are an ignorant bigot who wants special treatment as long as white-folk get the shaft. You are a RACIST!!! Congratulations. You show what is all wrong with the racist A.A.

I think Affirmative Action is still needed especially in the South. I live in Louisiana and our governor pledged to the people in north Louisiana that he would not hire a black male in his administraion as a cabinet secretary. Since his inauguaration only one black is a cabinet secretary who has served under three different administrations, and she is the less paid secretary under the Jindal administration. With that said I know affirmative action is needed.

Boy Nikki Taylor, do you think you can squeeze any more African Americans in your piece? Yet, you always refer to European Americans as just a color "White". Another example of racism by this typical pro-Afirmative Action blooger.

We say we'd like to get to a day when we no longer analyze a person's gender or ethnicity. Yet, often it is the applicant themselves, or their supporters, who are bringing up the issue, not the opponents. Example – in the case of Sotomayor, it is she who advanced the notion that a Latino was better than others, which is reverse racism.

When we see less "non-whites" in public office, this cannot be fixed with Affirmative Action. This is what Democracy and the Ballot Box are for. Public opinion has determined the mix in Congress, so it is quite perplexing when people complain about the Congressional ethnic mix.

Finally, the numbers of women or certain ethnicities in college cannot be fixed by Affirmative Action. People are either interested in higher levels of education, or they are not. Setting a quota does not suddenly make someone interested or qualified. The root of the problem is much deeper than this. Equal standards for all is the least discriminatory, while Affirmative Action seems most bigoted, as it lowers standards and assumes the "protected party" cannot make it on his/her own merits.

The Republicans are pro "Tokenism" and against taking any action that forces diversity in the workplace. Their opposition to Judge Sonia Sotomayor is a perfect example of their racists’ ideology.

How in the world can Republicans support Clarence (Uncle Tom) Thomas and oppose Sotomayor? Caveat: the ABA rating of Thomas was the least favorable of any confirmed Supreme Court nominee dating back to the Eisenhower administration (most nominees receive unanimous "well qualified" evaluations). The ABA based its unanimous "well qualified" evaluation of Sotomayor on a review of her integrity, competence and judicial temperament. Therefore, show me a woman or Hispanic that is a Republican and I’ll show you a hypocrite and a fool.

Here’s why: Thomas benefited from affirmative action to get on the court (and into law school) and was used by the Republicans to replace Thurgood Marshall (undisputable evidence of an obvious quota appointment by Bush – who was anti quotas). Even Ray Charles (who was blind and not dead) can see that Thomas (who opposed Affirmative Action after benefiting from it) is only a token shield used by the Republicans against criticism of their racist ideology.

The Republicans are pro "Tokenism" and against taking any action that forces diversity in the workplace. Their opposition to Judge Sonia Sotomayor is a perfect example of their racists’ ideology. How in the world can Republicans support Clarence (Uncle Tom) Thomas and oppose Sotomayor? Caveat: the ABA rating of Thomas was the least favorable of any confirmed Supreme Court nominee dating back to the Eisenhower administration (most nominees receive unanimous "well qualified" evaluations). The ABA based its unanimous "well qualified" evaluation of Sotomayor on a review of her integrity, competence and judicial temperament. Therefore, show me a woman or Hispanic that is a Republican and I’ll show you a hypocrite and a fool.

Here’s why: Thomas benefited from affirmative action to get on the court (and into law school) and was used by the Republicans to replace Thurgood Marshall (undisputable evidence of an obvious quota appointment by Bush – who was anti quotas). Even Ray Charles (who was blind and now dead) can see that Thomas (who opposed Affirmative Action after benefiting from it) is only a token shield used by the Republicans against criticism of their racist ideology.

There are many privileged minorities who grow up with advantages unavailable to poor white children. Not every person starts out in this country on equal ground, but I feel the real divide stems from socio-economic classes, not racial groups, and poverty may disproportionately affect minority children but it certainly doesn't follow a clean racial line. Affirmative action should address equal access opportunities for all people of disadvantaged backgrounds, minorities and whites alike. It should not be used to benefit middle and upper class minorities. You will never convince me that Sasha and Malia Obama are going to need preferential consideration over a poor white kid in Appalachia striving to be the first in his family to go to college when it comes time to apply to Ivy League universities. Yes, the quality of public education in most inner city schools is abysmal compared to the more affluent suburbs. I taught public school in Baltimore City and know this firsthand. But I believe that is more a function of poverty than race. The public schools in rural, poverty-stricken areas certainly aren't any better but for some reason in this country white poverty seems to be a politically invisible issue.

Changing the laws that provide inclusion and diversity DOES NOT change the minds of people who are driven by prejudice ..SO YES..Until humans completely accept each other openly, there needs to be some legal recourse and assurance that those who wish to shut others who are not like them out CAN NOT!

[...] president and a soon to be latina judge on the Supreme Court.  In fact, she even posted it on the CNN website and asked for viewers to leave comments.  Of course, I had to say my 2 cents, but since I have my [...]

Absolutely yes Affirmative Action is still necessary infact as long as racial discrimination exists the need for Affirmative Action must be implemented. Why ? for divesity, it is a proven fact that better decisions, better higher education discussions in the classrooms from the Ivy League to Land Grant State Universities to private and public 2 or 4 year schools take place when diversity among students from diffrent racial and economic backgrounds as a result of Affirmative Action.

Black people are still considered a Suspect Classification by the U.S. Supreme Court when the legal question concerning the 14th Amendment- due process and equal protection clauses are interpreted by the court. Why because blacks are still politically powerless. How? The lack of representation of black U.S. Senators, to few members of Congress and to few black members of state and local legislative and judicial bodies as well as governors and county CEO's.Remember the cry in the Revolutionary War "No taxation without representation."

From 1877 when Reconstruction ended and then started the great reign of the KU KLUX KLAN reaching its height in 1924 under Calvin Coolidge Administration, to Brown vs The Board of Education of Topeka Kansas and The Civil Rights Movement, black people have been and still are the victims of racial discrimination and economic disenfranchisement. Why does the United States need Affirmative Action because studies still show the Black people still suffer the effects and affects of slavery, Jim Crow, Willie Lynch, Segregation, economic and political disenfranchisement and Welfare programs which enabled single black family house holds. Enabling like perhaps Michael Jackson or any alleged addict is when doctors refuse to say no and help and restore Michael Jackson and others to recovery. The greatest shame that exists in the tragic death of Michael Jackson is not placed with Michael but on the lack of recovery and rehabilitation that exists in our criminal justice system and in this nations medical doctors motivations and medical and psychological institutions methods. Also this nations media has exploited and made sport of people like Michael Jackson and Brittany Spears for ratings and money i e greed and callous concern for the welfare of the entertainers and other celebrities and other citizens which Cable News and Network News covers on Television and radio. The corporate dominated press today is as oppressive, corrupt, and lacks as much responsibility and professionalism as the "Yellow Press" of the turn of Twentieth Century which Teddy Roosevelt spoke out against.

Affrimative Action is a remedy to discrimination and requires racial minorities and women to be qualified for Universities and jobs in the public and private sector. If any of the opponents of Affirmative Action who spoke on your segment would like to see the stastics of Black in America by Soledad O'Brien and other disturbing statistics which demonstrate that segregation and discrimination are still a glaring reality today. Please do another segment on The Need for Affirmative Action and inform the public of the alarming statistics facing minorities and women in the United States of America. President John F. Kennedy came on national television in 1962 and stated the vital economic and socialogical statistics Black Americans vs White Americans and I say to the opponents of Affirmative Action those oppressive disparities based on race still exist today. Martin Luther King's words are still relevant today "We have come a long long way but we still have a long long way to go." Who of the opponents of Affirmative Action who are White or rich or well to do would like the color of their skin changed, their gender changed or their generations of economic and educational privilege changed and stand in the place of a Black or Latina or women or the poor denied the basic right to affordable housing, a quality primary or higher education or high paying job or business on the account of race, national origin, gender or economic disadvantage.

This nation has made great social, political and economic gains in and among all classes of people because of Affirmative Action and other progressive programs. These programs such as Affirmative Action must continue to make real the promise of justice, equality of Democracy articulated in the Bill of Rights, The I Have a Dream Speech and the Innaguration Speech of President John F. Kennedy which were inspired by God and Democracy.

Mr. Justice Clarence Thomas an opponent of Affirmative Action is not qualified to sit on our nation's highest court But Mr. Justice Thurogood Marshall was because he was qualified. However Mr. Clarence Thomas cashed in on the progressive change in attitude of this country. It is sad to think that Thomas's decisions and ideology are not consistent with the creative and progressive protests, legislation and executive orders and Yale University's recruitment efforts for racial diversity which elevated Mr. Thomas to educational and professional positions in his life.

Opponents of Affirmative Action are wrong when they call it a quota system. When I worked for three members of Congress in Washington, Democrats took every quota provision out of Civil Rights and Affirmative Action legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1991. And Conservatives and Republicans still played false political games by claiming that Affirmative Action always involve quotas. They call every Affirmative Action Bill a quota bill . Opponents of Affirmative Action have inposed their own quota and what is it? The answer is one Black, Latina or woman in a workforce or University classroom.

CNN above all, the workforce or the classrooms of our colleges must reflect the percentage of qualified applicants in order for this nation to remain just and free for all citizens to have equal access to opportunity. Without Affirmative Action, diversity and the quality education and cooperate decisions that Affirmative Action produces would disappear and this nation would be the looser.

In this nation we have over one million Blackmen in prison and that is three times more than the number of Black men we have in college. This is a national disgrace not only for the Black community but more importantly for this nation that still does very little about this alarming statistic. There is no greater economic investment that this nation can make than in spending tax dollars which assure minorities, women and Whites access to an affordable and quality higher education. Because one more educated tax paying citizen is one more citizen less likely to end up in prison as a tax burden.

It is about six hours since I submitted my comment. Thank you, so very much, CNN, for not publishing it. I guess my comments about CNN's general shallowness at covering issues torqued you off.

Once again if there is no need for affirmative action there is no need to inform the world about being black in america. Cause there are no more problems or any thing for blacks to complain about ,or any minority group for that matter.
cancel BLACK IN AMERICA 2 cause your not doing WHITE IN AMERICA, LATINO IN AMERICA, EUROPEAN IN AMERICA , ASIAN IN AMERICA GAY IN AMERICA ,ON AND ON cnn I love your station but .
Go to fox and tell them you dont need you token black any more ; and also tell them there is no need to search for your 1st black anchor or any anchor cause affirmative action is dead talk to real black people dont go down town to sell out blacks that have lost or dont want any thing to do with their own people also find more blacks to interview on affirmative action if you want to interview about the issue ya think

Here's an experiment...

Since race relations are so fair in the American work place let's switch positions....Let's substitute the # of White Executives in Fortune 500 companies with Black or Latino/ Latina Executives for 100 years. Given the current state of our economy, the incoming folks surely couldn't do any worse than the greedy bozos in Chairman's seats now.

Since their test scores prove their intellectual superiority is what got them there in the first place (and not Jim Crow llaws or the Good 'Ol Boy network), they should have NO PROBLEM quickly emerging from the last-hired-first-fired ashes and quickly ascending the ranks of F500 companies, (by the way, that would then be run by minorities)...just like we are being asked to do, right?

Go for it...show me those highly superior qualifications in action!

I believe it was needed to inspire achievement – Obama is correct, now parents must expect excellence and students must work. AA is no longer needed, EQUAL EDUCATION is!

Affirmitive Action is simply racism, there sure are alot of racist people!

Maybe we need not focus on affirmative actions and take a look at "Equal Opportunity Employment"!!! It seems that companies need to hire some Americans in this country. Cheap is NOT always better!

I am a soon to be 26 year-old African-American male. I will not disagree we are in the best times in this country. As proof of a first black elected president. Yet what does this really mean? In virtually every area, people of color and women are still lag behind. Studies show people having "white-sounding" names applying for employment are 50% more likely to get a response from the company than applicants with "black-sounding" names. Yes, even when qualifications are identical. Women still only make 74 cents on the dollar that males earn even with the same credentials.

Lets look at our justice system. When a black kills a white, they are five times more likely to be considered for capital punishment than when a white person kills a black. Blacks are three times more likely to stopped and searched by the police. Even though when whites are actually searched they are four times as likely to have something illegal.

Even though affirmative action is not flawless, its purpose is to level the playing-field because of gender and racial bias that yes still exist. People of color are often seen as lazy, not intelligent, criminal. This negative stereo-types along with lack of access to education throughout American history still demonizes many minorities and women today.

So do you think you're not prejudice? When we think of certain titles, who comes to mind? A "soccer-mom"? A basketball player? A "baby-momma"? A hotel-maid? A doctor? A convenient store clerk?

Some studies tell us affirmative action appointees. Do just as good or even better than those who perhaps were accepted or hired by blink preference (being white and/or male). Yes this actually called affirmative action even though some call it simply being the "most qualified". We most never overlook "less qualified" whites who beat up other "more qualified" whites in part because they have an inside connection.

Even if Tyler or Emily don't get accepted into Michigan University because Malik or Takiesha got in because of affirmative action, Tyler and Emily are more likely to get into Michigan State University. Malik and Takiesha have a greater chance of ending up at a Michigan State Prison. Whether its a state university or state prison. In many ways people just don't end up wherever they are headed because of what they have done.

Should we hold all black males to the same standards as Obama? Do we hold all other white rappers to the same standards as multi-million selling rapper Enimem? Are white basketball players who are better than black players surprised when they get less playing time? Even with white all-time greats like Larry Bird and Jerry West (the basketball player on the NBA logo)? When our society thinks of most blacks, do we think of Martin Luther King Jr. or a gang member? More importantly, when our society thinks of black women do we think of Michelle Obama or a "welfare queen"?

Its amazing how we live in a society that can still tell your shoe or bra size no longer sees race. If a 6'6" pound black male and a 5'8" 130 pound white female told you they both had a football game next week. Which one would be wearing the shoulder pads? Which one would be waiving pom-poms?

I don't believe God wants our society to be color-blind. God teaches us to learn and love others different from us. One of the best to face this problem is to just that. Stare this problem in the face. Or things will never improve.

Affirmative action is NOT needed. I believe that any "law" that favors one person over another is unjust. Preferential treatment for one group over another should be eliminated.
I work for a large international company and have seen unqualified african americans get promoted over qualified white men and woman. How does this help the situation? The back lash from the promotions does more harm than good. It breeds contempt, anger and hostility. The manager is put in a very bad situation and they usually don't last very long. The do not get respect or cooperation from the employees.
We need to get past hiring and promoting solely because a company doesnt want a lawsuit because it doesnt have enough african American middle managers. We need to get to the point where the best person gets the job, Regardless of race or gender or any other preferential treatment.

Yes, We still need affirmative especially in oklahoma, I have put in for better paying jobs at my work place 3 times and have been over looked like I didn't even apply for the jobs and I know I am qualified becuase I do the job at my 2 other jobs that I have plus I went to school for that job I have over 15 years experience but they give the jobs to young white girls that have no training or schooling.

My husband was passed over for a raise when someone mentioned to the boss that he would be the highest paid person on the job the with the new pay scale. the next morning the boss came in with a new pay scale and all these new criteria for the higher pay and my husband had all of the criteria that everyone else had more actually. It took him almost 11/2 yrs. to get the raise and he had to go over his bosses head to get that. He has been on the job the longest 28years, they are not ashamed to show their prejudice around here. Pretty sad.

As long as Affirmative Action exists, I'll assume any doctor, lawyer or other mission critical person who may have benefited from AA will have gotten into their position not based on their own abilities. Indeed, I will assume that they are inferior and I will seek to take my business elsewhere.

Best way to stop discrimination based on race is to stop discriminating on race! Why not bring back jim crow laws ?

When we still have schools with segregated proms in this country, it is no question that affirmative action is necessary. The generation that existed requiring this program to be implimented still plays an active role in our society. It is a necessary evil that having a black President just doesn't resolve.

40 years after the civil right act is Affirmative action as expression of liberty,peace,and equality, neccessary to build a nation ? history is the memory of people said the poet ! ?its was by affirmative action Martin L K, obtain the civil right act ,with non-violence movement Gandhi show the world what love and peace is .By the same way Nelson Mandela action and resistance againts nazism in Africa we have broke the neck of separeted race ! Like a lamp or one lantern of our commun history toward the world ,Obama like others leaders need s support and encouragement and he represent the strenghfull america where the dream of ritght ,liberty and peace is possible ! Yes we can black and white musilm,christian ,and animists buddists ,build always the world and it world for the future generation by opposition of negative action like suprematie of race,all discrimination,separated race,violence againts women in Africa ,iran or afganistan ..

I would say we still need affirative action just look at out president.
If that isn't affirmative action what is?

You know it amazes me that this questions still comes about in debates. What part of this do you people miss? The misconception remains the same – Affirmative Action- is not just for Black people. It is for the benefit of everyone. For this country to supposedly to be so advanced in everything – why is race still such an issue here? When you have to KEEP discussing something, and it KEEPS being the “topic of discussion” then CLEARLEY it remains a significant issue that needs to be RESOLVED.

I would say yes. My reason is that schools are still lagging behind in most inter and rural schools are behind and don't properly get these kids ready for college. I don't think it's just for minorities groups but people who are at a disadvanage because funding.

YES AA IS STILL NECESSARY. We still have a ways to go. I can understand that white people don't want to admit to the sins of their forefathers. But slavery happened. Jim Crow happened. We still live with the results. If you wonder how i can say that, that's fine. I wonder how so many white people can think blacks don't achieve because they don't study. What is there some magical "study" gene that blacks don't have? Not if my high school was any indication. I would like it if we were all judged on merit but it's not the case. White people: don't assume that just because YOU don't see racism it is'nt there.

We need to put aside our thin skins and have a discussion about whether affirmative is still needed. I would think most poeple could agree that there was a time when it was desparately needed to address past ills . whether that is true or not now is up for debate. As for me if they continue affirmative action(and yes I think it should be continued) it needs to be more economic based.

AA is the reason why minorities are judge by MERIT and not by race, gender, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, age, etc. It was meant to FORCE people to pay attention to ALL QUALIFIED candidates. Without the LEGAL requirement to add diversity to our spaces, this nation would still be a cesspool of nepotism. Sadly, people only do what is right when there is a legal or financial consequence held over their heads.

Yes, we no longer require the forced integration of the 1960's, but America has not completely embraced the principles of AA. AA is still needed when an African-American, Harvard professor is arrested for trying to enter his own home (official statement, http://www.theroot.com/). It is still needed when a company has an unwritten rule about hiring 'certain' people. It is still needed when a political candidate agrees with a 'coon' reference, gives a 'hand in the cookie jar' excuse and STILL gets the VOTE of her party. It is sure 'nuff needed when people are claiming that our president is not an American because his birth certificate is a fake. It is easy for someone in a metropolitan area to say it is not needed, but outside of those city limits minorities are constantly reminded of their place. Some people and places haven't gotten the MEMO, and until they do AA is needed.

Contrary to what some may believe, affirmative action does not create the requirement that an employer consider all candidates. There are a number of federal laws preventing unfair hiring practices, but AA is not one of them. What AA does is give unfair advantage to one racial/gender group, and I think it's time for it to do.

I think affirmative action has taken away the passion to succeed in America. So many do not strive to do their best because they know that AA will give them leverage.

If we could replace affirmative action with hiring based exclusively on qualifications, maybe we wouldn't need it. People who coast on affirmative action hires dont' last long at work. They're not ambitious people anyhow and they are not in the majority. Affirmative action isn't bean counting but it's misused more often than used well. Clarence Thomas is an affirmative action appointment. He got the job to replace Thurgood Marshall, not because he was exceptionally well qualified. Sotomayor puts him to shame.

Re: Jane Fried. HERE HERE! Unfortunately, employers and their HR guard-dogs are not the smartest people in the world. They hire based on job interview "performances" or other superficial traits rather than actual skills and educational accomplishments.

http://beyond-the-political-spectrum.blogspot.com/

Connie…3 questions in response to your post (7/22/2009 @1:25pm ET);

QUESTION #1:
If you believe that unfair hiring practices alone (AA) can cause a 'lack of passion to succeed' in America then what effect do you think the practice of all-out slavery has had on the passion/ psyche of the descendants of Black slaves?

QUESTION #2:
As far as AA providing leverage; we can name the number of minorities who have received the same 'benefit of the doubt' thru AA that Whites have ALWAYS ENJOYED in the workplace) on one hand. In the face of racially-based unemployment trends, what leverage can you STATISTICALLY prove we’ve ever possessed?

QUESTION #3:
You can't expect to tip the scales of American hiring injustices 200% to the right, for 100+ years, and then think you can magically obtain TRUE EQUALITY without tipping them back 200% to the left for the next 100+ years, unless you bring in external resources (jobs) to the U.S. and give 100% of them to Blacks.

Now tell me this…how many Whites REALLY want to do ALL of what it takes to achieve true racial equality in America? HINT: COMMON SENSE says you will only need 1 hand to count ‘em.

There is too much racial baiting from the left and blacks. I mean.. does there really need to be a show "Black in America"?

I would like to point out that YES.. Slavery did happen ... a LONG time ago; and it happened ALL over the world. But, no one alive today was responsible for slavery.

You have your black president and now you are in the "No Excuse" zone.

Steve S.

Such an obvious ascerbic attitude could be taken as race-baiting itself. Personally, I'm willing to overlook it; I know that Americans have a selective memory when it comes to our poor knowledge & understanding of our nation's history. We want to cherish the good things (and their results the rest of us benefit from), but sweep the bad things (and their effects) under the rug. How "understanding" of you (yes...that IS sarcasm).

http://beyond-the-political-spectrum.blogspot.com/

Steve 8 – YOU obviously don't have a clue about the history of SLAVERY and how it impacts the lives of families for decades and decades.

It's comments like YOURS that prove WHY Black in America is vital. WHITES in America are always the first ones to tell MINORITIES to "get over" their history and yet whenever something happens to WHITES they are the first one to CRY BOO-HOO poor me, I'm entitled to everything under the SUN!!

Give me a freaking break! I wish you were a SLAVE and then maybe you can GET OVER IT. Just because SLAVERY happened a decade ago does not mean SLAVERY does not still EXISTS TODAY!!!

SLAVERY is here just like it was decades ago. That's the problem. Everyone wants to sweep it under the rug and ignore the REALITY of SLAVERY, but guess what? As long as SLAVERY EXISTS and the SLAVERY MENTALITY that goes along with it in AMERICA, it will continue to IMPACT THE LIVES OF EVERYONE IN THIS WORLD!!!

SLAVERY is not just about African Americans, there are NATIVE AMERICAN SLAVES, LATINO SLAVES, JEW SLAVES, ORIENTAL SLAVES, ETC.

We do not need affirmative action. It served a valid purpose 40 years ago. I am a teacher. Minority students in my school are given the same opportunities as white students. Any lack of success comes from too little reinforcement at home or among the communities in these students are living in. It is human nature to be more successful when expectations are high and encouraged. Families and communities have to pick up the gauntlet now. Affirmative action at this time is essentially insulting and demeaning. Asian and Hispanic students are succeeding because of work ethics and values that are instilled in their cultures. I fear that Black students will be left behind unless expectations for their performance is demanded at home. As teachers who really care, we all struggle with this dilemna. It is sad to be in a classroom where you can see some students "settle" for much less than they should.

I will continue to repeat myself. For those of you who still do not understand the real reason for affirmative action. YOU STILL JUST DONT GET IT AND MAY NEVER WILL.! So to make a long story short, The issue IS STILL AN ISSUE, THAT ALL OF AMERICA IS NOT YET READY TO GIVE UP THE RACE PEOBLEMS. You still want to sweep it back under the carpet for the next 200 years.. Just look around you. For the teachers who say affirmative action is not good for the schools. You say that now because that student is under your wings, but when that person, or child goes out into the real where all the hungry wolves roam..WATCH OUT! I SAY YES TO " AFFIRMATIVE ACTION" YES ! YES! YES !

Race should never be a factor in any employment decision. If it is, then it's discrimination and it's unfair. Regardless of the intent. People should be hired on their merits and their skill set. The desire to achieve does not have a color. Why should I hire someone with no desire to achieve, regardless of their race?

Affirmative Action is a rediculous excuse for minorities to be pampered through life.

I don't understand how Sotomayor is a positive example of affirmative action. What happened to the hard-working kid who lost their seat at Princeton because of a law that said "Sorry, that kid has a rarer skin color than you do, better luck next time." Can one not say that this kid was rejected a spot at a school because of their skin color? Think about it.

I happened to notice that there aren't many high level executives or law school students who have AB- blood types. This is an outrage. I demand to be accepted to Princeton.

The problem here lies somewhere between Generation Baby Boom and their kids. It's over. Move on.

I believe that Affirmative action served the African American community well, into the 80's perhaps, early 90,s. However, in todays economy,Affirmative action no longer applies. Employers, now lay-off or fire Black employees first, without impunity. I know this first hand because it happened to me! Working on Wall Street for an independent, software and development and consultanting firm, I was let go, among the first cut,while some of my white colleges, who had little or no knowledge than me retained their jobs was told that since I made a six figures salary my job status was among the first to be let go. So the policy now, is no longer based upon "AA" because African Americans are no longer the first hired, we have become the first fired!!

Yes we need Affirmative action. Have you ever visited the state of Virginia? Well I have lived here for over fourty years and nothing has changed.
Disparity in the criminal justice system, education, housing, and lack of respect by the stake holders in the community.
Here is a challenge for everyone go stay in a black community for 30 days. Because no matter how much money you earn the people that don't look like you will never give you the same respect. We all have Ego's, but shame on us as Americans just because we have a black president things have not gotten better maybe worse in some cases.
Erase disparity among people and stop blasting sensitive issues you will never understand. Keep Affirmative Action for We The People.

How can any of you say that "This black man, should get the job, even though he doesn't have the skills that that man over there has"..

That's so stupid. Let me hire the lesser man for the job, just because of his skin color..

People should be given opportunity based on their desire and ability to work. And yes, affirmative action would be better suited to be based on socioeconomic principles rather than color..

Keep pointing out color, and nobody will ever move past it..

So, most of the folks that you bothered to interview were liberals in liberal urban areas and affirmative action advocates. With a passing nod to on conservative and a poll. Great journalism!! This is why cnn crushes fox news in the cable ratings!

With regards to race & affirmative action, read the article ("Let's Talk About Race, Baby!")

http://beyond-the-political-spectrum.blogspot.com/

The only concerns about "black in America" comes from those the see an "inheritance". No one "deserves" that. Everyone should work for all they get. NO affirmative action. It has always been anti-American.

unfortunately its still necessary in some part of america.

People who are 100% qualified for jobs don't get them because they don't "fit in" or "I don't think he'd be a good match"

This is because socially racists do not have to be equal, but most jobs have a social element. Most jobs have water cooler conversations, colleagues go out to lunch.

Affirmative action should ONLY be used if the candidates are equal.

If two people have 4.0 gpa from accredited schools and same qualifications and the company is 100% caucasion. The minority should get a slight preference. Equal is the key to me. If the gpa is 3.9 and the caucasion is 4.0, the caucasion should get the job

I agree partially with Mr. Blackwell's statement. I do think AA is counter-productive at this point. I don't think it is now or was when it was enacted 'idiotic'. People have stated that once we don't see/use race then AA will no longer be necessary. They seem to forget that AA continues the practice of seeing/using race to make decisions. Whether it be symbolic or not the fact that the highest position in the world (let's not bandy about things here... the President of the USA is the most powerful person in the world) is now held by a man from different racial groups voted in by people of ALL racial groups means AA succeeded in it's original goal of forcing us as a country to not 'hold back' someone because of their race or gender. At this point, we need to accept the fact that in the USA of 2009 the only thing that can 'hold you back' is yourself. Is there a 'level playing field' of course not, and anyone who thinks there one day will be is fooling themselves. When humans are involved illogical decisions will be made... period. However, in our society in 2009 if a company is short sighted enough to allow a less qualified person to obtain a position just because they are or are not a certain race is going to lose to it's competitors who leverage all assets irrespective of some 'surface' differences that person may have to a majority of others. Sotomayor stated she wouldn't have had the opportunity she did without AA and that is simply the truth. However, that was also in the 1970s when the existing group of decision makers were still entrenched in the mindset of the 1950s/60s. Those folks are for the most part gone now and the current group of leaders nearly all grew up and were educated in the mindset of skills/abilities completely trumping any other facets of a persons makeup. Time to recognize that fact and take the away the artificial 'leveling' which does nothing of the sort.