Essay | Affirmative Action

The president of a large firm announces he will be retiring. Word spreads throughout the community and resumes begin to pour in daily. The board members filter through hundreds of applications according to qualifications and experience. Fifteen applicants are selected and notified to set up an interview. One applicant surpasses all the others with his qualifications and impresses the board with his charm. The man leaves the interview confident that he will be the next president of the firm. Unfortunately, he never hears from them again. Since he was Hispanic the firm could not hire him because they already had enough Hispanic people employed. Under the Affirmative Action policy, or preferential hiring, the firm must hire someone who is underrepresented. As strange as it seems, this type of situation occurs everyday, and many wonder why the policy is legal. I never...
(read more)