Embracing A Pluralistic Society On Affirmative Action

By: Xiaoyan Zhang, Ph.D.  July 2020

As a nation of immigrants, The US has faced the challenge of ethnic injustice against minorities since its birth as a country. There are many dark pages throughout American History such as the killing of American Indians, slavery of blacks, Chinese exclusion act, Japanese Internment to name a few. Although there were many bright moments of progress like the emancipation of slaves, 1965 immigration reform, civil right movement and legislation, the journey to equal justice for all still has a long way to go.

The disproportionally higher death rates among minority groups during COVID-19 pandemics, the rise of hate crime against Asian American community, and the brutal killing of George Floyd and other members of the black community by police officers once again reveal the existence of deep rooted racism in American society.

In addition, on-going population structural changes will make America a nation without a majority race in the coming decades. All Americans must face a fundamental choice of whether to resist or embrace a pluralistic society with multi-ethnic democracy.

Affirmative Action (AA) has been a proven instrument to achieve structural change by increasing the representation of minorities in education, employment, government contracts, and public resource allocation. Representation matters because it enables minorities to participate in the decision making process that has broad impacts in many social, economic, and political spheres of American life. Diversity is strength. It serves the best interest of all Americans, including White and Chinese Americans.

In their company plan for greater diversity, Levi’s pledges to appoint a black board member and aims to have 50% of future hiring candidates to be people of color. When discussing the rationale behind these recent decisions, the CEO of Levi’s stated that, “…you have to believe that a diverse organization that represents the consumers who we are serving is going to out-compete a homogenous organization every day. So it is a business imperative as much as it is us doing the right thing”. The same argument is echoed by leaders of higher learning institutions that a diverse campus will make new generation leaders better prepared to serve and excel in a pluralistic society.

It is for the common good of society that we support Affirmative Action and embrace a pluralistic society. We want to be on the right-side of history!

Structural change may take generations to achieve, but individuals of minority groups can accomplish personal advancement in a much shorter time, especially with improving social conditions; Individual responsibility and effort are also a necessary force to advance social progress.

AA is a transformation measure that serves its purpose in American history. It has limitations, problems, and needs to be improved to keep up with the changing environment. A number of states have already stopped AA while some states like CA are bringing it back after two decades of absence. In a democratic society, integrity of the process establishes the legitimacy of the results. Individual citizens need to participate in the process and accept the results.

Elevation of minority status through structure change is consistent with the American creed that “All men are created equal”. It is a necessary step in preparation for a pluralistic society. At the same time, individual responsibility of minority groups is just as important. The combination of the two is the force for the advancement of humanity.