Affirmative Action

Samuel B. Howard
Daniel J. Boyer
Anthony Aslett
Matt Beckstrand
Ethics Project on Affirmative Action
Section 022

Affirmative Action

A. Jason is a black student applying for medical school at U.C. Berkley. His GPA is 4.0. His MCAT score is the highest among the 14 black applicants. However, his MCAT score is slightly below the average applicant applying for Med. School, but well above the minimum required score by the university. There are 65 openings and 1,000 applicants for those 65 openings. Because of Affirmative Action laws, Jason is likely to be accepted, even though there are applicants with higher test scores. Research shows black males have a slightly lower test score when applying for Med. School, however, by the end of Med. School they excel and their test scores are equal and sometimes are higher than their peers who had higher MCAT scores. Should the University except Jason even though his MCAT score is lower than some of his peers?
1) Appraisal of Ethical Dilemma
In 1964 congress passed civil rights act which banned all forms of racial discrimination. Discrimination did not stop. In 1965 Pres. Johnson issued Affirmative Action. Affirmative Action entails practice of reverse discrimination. In other words, employers and Universities are required to discriminate against majorities, mainly white males. This is done by over looking, in many cases, qualifications in order to meet racial diversity quotas.
Should we give the black student preferential treatment, because of a supposed lack of opportunity growing up due to racism, or should the white students merits be considered greater than the black student’s needs for compensation?
2)Individuals and groups harmed
-The white male(s), who is overlooked, due to the University’s need to meet a quota of racial diversity.
-The white male’s family. His future wife and kids, or the family he may already have will suffer financially. His lack of opportunity may in turn limit the opportunities of his children.
-The black individuals who believe this kind of favoritism is demeaning to them as a race, because it makes them look like they are not as capable as whites.
-The University’s reputation may be affected, which can cause potential applicants to be deterred from applying at all.
B.A list of all individuals as well as groups involved and describe the interests of each.
-White student: desires to further his education towards his desired career. He expects to be rewarded for his academic achievements.
-The administration: desire to provide training and education to the most academically qualified students.
-Black student: desires to further his education towards his desired career. He expects to be rewarded for his academic achievements, but also hopes to be able to provide his posterity with a better future than his own.
-Family of black student: desires the best education for their son, and hope he will break the mold of poverty and repression the blacks have been in for so long.
-Family of white student: desires the best education and opportunities for their son, and hopes he will become successful in his endeavors.
C. Two Ethical Theories in Conflict
From a Utilitarian standpoint it shouldn't matter what race a person is, or whether someone has not had the same opportunities as someone else. We want to train the most qualified person for the job whether he or she has been blessed in life or not. Someone with lower scores coming into a school may end up with higher scores than their peers, but the odds are they will still finish with lower scores than the others.
Giving a specific group extra advantages to pull them out of undesirable work positions does not eliminate the need for those positions to be filled. Therefore, society will be spending more to educate people for certain trades, but will still have to fill the undesirable positions. Affirmative action used in this manner would cost more to accomplish nothing. Under Utilitarianism Jason should not be given preferential treatment applying for this school.
From an Ethical Egoism standpoint affirmative action would be beneficial to Jason and members of his group. This will give him an assurance that he will only need to beat out members of his own group. He will not have to compete with anyone that might have been given greater opportunity to excel in his or her education. This would give members of minority groups hope that that they might be able to fill high positions normally reserved for the dominant groups.


D. Solving the dilemma
Why’s: By letting Jason into the medical school, you give the school diversity.
The advantage to this is that Jason may have many different ideas and perspectives on
different issues based on his background. Also, the school will produce a doctor who black people may feel more comfortable seeing. Jason is also given an opportunity
that he probably has not had his whole life. He was not given the same opportunities as
the majority of the white applicants, and as such is slightly behind in education than his
white counterparts, which should explain his lower MCAT score. However, by the end
of medical school he should be just as qualified as any student who graduates from
the school. He may even out-perform many of the students who out-scored him on the
MCAT.
Why nots: If Jason is allowed to attend the school then a white male student who has
worked very hard and earned the right to attend the school won’t be allowed to attend.
The student who was not accepted will most likely have to settle for a lesser school.
Also, a lot of the merits the white male student has earned will seem as though it was for
nothing. Many in society believe in rewarding people based on merit. According to the MCAT scores, there are many students who are more qualified than Jason is.
The majority of the population would be better served by awarding individuals according to merits they have gained. The black student would in no way be a victim of racial discrimination if a white student with higher test scores were chosen instead of him. Some whites grow up in the same economic situations as many blacks do. There are too many contingencies involved for this practice of favoritism to have any credibility. Therefore, Affirmative Action cannot be considered 'universalizable'. It is reverse discrimination against white males. Affirmative Action seems to be an attempt at treating the symptoms of a disease after it is already a full-blown infection. Though the intent is admirable, a better solution would be to develop a vaccine that will provide immunity before infection could ever take place. In other words, making programs for under-privileged children, regardless of race.

E. Our moral conscience
In this case, we would feel very comfortable with our decisions pertaining to this dilemma. We do believe that under-privileged groups should receive assistance in rising above their circumstances, however, we do not believe Affirmative Action effectively serves this purpose.