kraftiekortie wrote:
I feel like we should “lift a finger” for black folks.
My hope is that “affirmative action” becomes unnecessary. It’s a paradox, in that it both helps and hurts its recipients.
This leads to an interesting point:
Should we "lift a finger" regardless of the "black folk"'s situation, so those in the higher classes receive the same assistance as those who are in the "lower class"\poor?
or
should we "lift a finger" only for those "black folks" who need it, and not those who are already at a certain level, ignoring the equal needs of those of other races in that same (or lesser) position?
or
Should we ignore the person's "race" and instead focus on the individual's needs, so those most needy (regardless of "race") receive the assistance?
Over here our governments set aside assistance for the Aboriginal people - "lifting a finger" for them. Sounds good until you realise that this assistance goes predominantly to those middle-class Aboriginal people in the cities who are already at an equivalent position to those of other races, whilst those who really need the support in the outback communities see much less of the "assistance".
Or take Canada, where "assistance" is set aside for the "first people", yet many of those people are
still without clean drinking water because the assistance is directed to more "publicly visible" areas rather than those "out of the way" people with much greater need.
Firstly, affirmative action should be colour blind.
Secondly, people should be treated as individuals, rather than political footballs.