American Entitlement

Running head: AMERICAN ENTITLEMENT

American Entitlement

There was a time in this country when those who worked got paid and those who did not work did not get paid. At least, that is the way the majority saw it, white males. This thinking did not take into consideration people who could not work due to a mobility issue or those who could not get a job based on their skin color. Any time these days there is a call of racism or disabilities politicians come running with their solutions that they feel will help get them elected and get that vote. These are hot button issues and the politicians' solutions, while well intentioned, have caused more issues than solved problems. Affirmative action is the ends to those solutions. These solutions have become the new problems as they are ends and not means. Affirmative action hopes to end the plight of minorities getting good jobs by requiring businesses of a particular size to hire x number of minority workers in relevance to the businesses size. ADA is a means as it empowers; "the Americans with Disabilities Act is more than a new regulation for employers; it provides the impetus for employers to develop a better understanding of how people with disabilities can be a vital addition to the work force," (Bailey & Pati 1995). Title 1 of the ADA is the focus here as it is in regards to employment. In order to understand the relevance of both ADA and affirmative action it is necessary to critique them both and the account for what needs to be changed for these acts to be less controversial and much more effective and helpful.

Affirmative action works. It gives minorities the opportunity to work in an environment that they may not have been considered for previously. However, it is slowly bringing racism back into the foray again, certainly it is far different from the slave days or the civil rights days but it is there none-the-less. Job and school placement are no longer based strictly on merit. Now within those job applicants that qualify within minority equality merit is the key determiner for hiring. "We have a long way to go to bring down the continuing economic and social barriers for African-Americans. There is considerable support for programs to assist minority students with extra funds for improving schools, creating scholarships, and affording greater opportunities to excel on their own merit," (Turley, 2006). Again Affirmative action is an end. It is wonderful to look at on paper and the idealistic view it projects is certainly promising, but the same could be said of communism. In practice it simply does not work. It pushes race in front of people. It causes people to feel inadequate when they cannot get that perfect job based on their merit. As Jonathan Turley suggests it would be and is more beneficial to teach minorities to earn things based on merit as opposed to giving them things and causing feelings of entitlement.

Americans with Disabilities Act makes sense, and works. This was an excellent decision. Title 1 of the ADA is focused on employment and asks that employers take affirmative actions to get people with disabilities fairly and equally into the workplace. This is slightly different than affirmative action as it relates to merit but unable to work in certain conditions based on the physical plant.

"Two important things to remember. Employers are not being asked to hire any person with a disability; they are being asked to hire people who are qualified. And secondly, accommodations need to be made on an individual, case-by-case basis. I have also heard it said that employers are going to have to accommodate some 900 types of disabilities. Employers don't have to accommodate a disability. What they accommodate is the limitation caused by the disability," (Bailey & Pati 1995).

Refreshing o know that businesses are not hiring people based on some formula but on merit where the physical plant and the person can have no limitations. Implementing ADA has its drawbacks for sure. It can be costly but Title 1 gives an exemption for those businesses that have financial difficulties. It can also be difficult for employees to adjust. With ADA it is also important to recognize that people not qualified for a position or who can truly not perform the job tasks will not just be handed a job. Other issues include the definition of what a disability is often comes into question. Issues such as obesity and internet accessibility for the blind are current problems as evidenced