Global Justice
Due: April 14, 2017
Racism
While the issue of racism is an extremely large one, I’m narrowing my essay down to
some key aspects that I can offer solutions to. Some solutions I’d like to tackle regard the racial
injustices of the workplace, colleges and equal housing opportunities along with what we can do
as college students in our daily lives. It doesn’t take a leader to lead a life of equality and respect.
In the book, “Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?” Michael J. Sandel discusses the
idea of compensation for past racial injustices. Currently there are programs in place to provide
opportunities for people who have been oppressed. Sandel points out that these programs often
times benefit people who haven’t suffered; and the programs are at the expense of those who
aren’t necessarily at fault. If these programs wish to help those who are struggling financially or
in need of other assistance, they should base their qualifications on social class rather than race.
This would help to achieve truly equal opportunities for people of all races. (Sandel 168.)
So, is social class really the best way to assess people? In the case of colleges that strive
to help the underprivileged succeed, it may seem best to make decisions based on social class,
but even this system can be flawed. The best way to assess applicants is from a situational point
of view; taking into consideration not only race and class, but personal experience, moral values,
and work ethic. Given that other humans would be making these decisions, it leaves much room
for personal bias and human error. A way to minimize bias and errors would be to have multiple
decision makers with different backgrounds and viewpoints evaluate each candidate. Though this
method isn’t perfect, it’s a step in the right direction.
The idea of compensating individuals for past wrongs leads to much debate. Are we
responsible for the wrong doings of our ancestors? How about the groups of people we associate
with? If our ancestors owned slaves, do we owe it to the African-Americans in our community to
make it up to them somehow? (Sandel 178.) There is nothing we can do to take away the pain of
those people who were enslaved and sold as property. History cannot be rewritten. The best
option, moving forward, is to treat everyone with equal respect, acknowledge the past, work on
the present, and look toward the future. We can’t undo the past, but we can take steps toward
correcting the injustices minorities are still currently facing.
Racial preferences become an issue primarily when colleges or businesses attempt to
diversify their populations in an attempt to meet a “quota”. This may not be considered direct
racism, but it is unfair to favor one group of people over another for the sake of preserving a
