system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV: Affirmative action is racism. We should move towards a world where everyone is treated equally.

POC here. It really grinds my gears when I find out a company I'm applying to (or, sadly, worked for) gives preferential treatment during the hiring process to minorities.

I don't want to be treated differently. How is being treated differently because of the colour of my ethnicity supposed to make me feel better? It's racism. I'm being discriminated for. I want to know that, if I got a job, it's because I deserved it and I beat everyone else not because a manager wants to add "built a diverse team" to their resume.

I don't want to help someone tick a box, I just want to be treated like everyone else. Is that too much to ask? It sure feels like it lately.
gpt
Is it racist to try to make reparations to someone that you've wronged? Do you think its equality when parents give lots of money to one child and not another and then calls it equality when they stop giving money to either later on?

Treating everybody equally now after hundreds of years of oppression that leaves marginalized groups much worse off is not exactly a good thing. Affirmative action is meant as a corrective policy. Something that is suppose to help people recover from the consequences of an overtly racist pass and fight the more subtle racism of today.

You can criticize its effectiveness. For instance, affirmative action has been criticized because it seems to help middle class women the most. But you can't really say it was a racist policy when its clearly stated objection was meant to correct and compensate for things like Jim Crow, Redlining and general racism leading to significantly less generational wealth of black people. You can say it didn't do what it was supposed to do, but not that its racist.

>...I beat everyone else not because a manager wants to add "built a diverse team" to their resume.

You do realize diversity can be a huge asset right? There's a reason why Harvard graduates don't all work at the same job. Why someone that is "less qualified" can outperform everyone else with more qualifications? In general, everybody having the same education, experience, etc. will always come up with the same solutions and make the same mistakes. With diverse experiences and thought processes to pull from, an issue that seems alien to a Harvard educated white man, could be easily understood by a POC with that went to a state school. You ever hear about those air blowers for drying your hands that didn't pick up black people's hands? You ever see a company come out with an obviously tone deaf or even offensive statement towards black people? In what kind of environment do you expect these mistakes to happen more? One where almost everyone is white or even just went to ivy league schools, or one that has a diverse group of people in both cultures and education?