Let’s get one thing straight. Life is not fair. The word “fair” is a subjective term used to equate objects or issues. Affirmative Action is not fair, but it is equitable. Affirmative action basically says that “outsiders” get a seat at the table for a chance to compete. Somehow through years of hidden racial bias and equally hidden emotion on the topic, affirmative action has become a thought of giving an unfair advantage to people of color or women.

Is the advantage of being a member of mainstream society fair? No. Nor is it equitable. This is the reason for affirmative action policies in American society. The basis for the economic infrastructure of the US was built on the enslavement of Africans and the oppression of women. How is it “fair” that you get a four hundred year head start on education, economics, and family structure? How is it “fair” that in a country that’s called a “melting pot” there have only been white male Presidents until the recent election? How is it that a country with 150 million women has never elected a woman President or Vice President? Women in the workforce still make 85% of what men make in salary. When racial and gender bias dissolve so will the need for affirmative action policies.

Sometimes it is not racial or gender bias that promotes exclusion, it is simply the aspect of human nature that like attracts like. Most people surround themselves with people who look like them, act like them, and have similar backgrounds and philosophies. If there were no policies that said, “Hey, you may want to look over here for an engineer/teacher/construction worker” then our work environment would mimic our home environment. How different would your dinner party be if you had an affirmative action policy for social gatherings?

With the relatively short time that women and minorities have had equal access to education and economic resources, a pool of qualified individuals have emerged into the workforce. If your team, company, or program lacks diversity, it is simply because you have not taken the new America seriously enough to seek talent in faces that do not look like your own. If you affirmative action policies have yielded a whopping 2% or 3% minorities and women in the work force, I’d ask you to reconsider the term “affirmative”. Hiring one woman on a team or one minority is hardly affirmative. Likewise, hiring someone for the sake of filling quotas is not action.

If used appropriately, Affirmative Action policies can build a highly competitive workforce that is able to stand in the changing global economy. Human resource departments should have open dialogue among employees on the principles of affirmative action programs to minimize the anxiety of the mainstream and limit the fears of the minority. Our country was not built on fairness. It was built on the ability of one gender in one race to limit the potential and access of others. Over the years the US has made great strides in race relations, but the journey is not over and that’s affirmative.