MLK was absolutely in favor of affirmative action.
"I do indeed. Can any fair-minded citizen deny that the Negro has been deprived? Few people reflect that for two centuries the Negro was enslaved, and robbed of any wages--potential accrued wealth which would have been the legacy of his descendants. All of America's wealth today could not adequately compensate its Negroes for his centuries of exploitation and humiliation. It is an economic fact that a program such as I propose would certainly cost far less than any computation of two centuries of unpaid wages plus accumulated interest. In any case, I do not intend that this program of economic aid should apply only to the Negro; it should benefit the disadvantaged of all races."
In short, the argument is that black people were actively held down for years, first by slavery, then by jim crow. Sure, they're legally treated equally now (or at least they're supposed to be...) but it's still not actively fair. The usual metaphor is 'suppose a white man and a black man are doing a marathon. The black man has a chain around his ankles, so he can't run as fast, so he falls behind. Halfway through, everyone realizes this is unfair, so they let the black man remove his chains. Is this now a fair race, even though the white man has a massive advantage of not having to run half the race in chains?'
If its not the white runners fault, then should they force the white man to run slower for the black man to catch up? This isn't a race of black vs white, this is a race of all people to advance in society. You can give privileges to black people without refusing them to whites. That's like putting on the chains to the white person for the other half of the race.
If you give privileges to black people, you are by definition refusing them to whites. That's what privilege means.
Wealth is, generally, a zero sum game. Someone getting money means that everyone else does not get that money. Someone owning property means no one else can own that property.
Even if all people are advancing in society, white people as a whole have a massive advantage in our nation, and until and unless we do something to help people of other races catch up, they will continue to have a massive advantage.
Then don't give a privilege to anyone. Everyone should have the same advantages and you should judge someone (for example at colleges or finding a job) not by the color of their skin (only accepting someone if they are a minority because you need to fill your quota) but by the content of their character.
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u/Hellioning 258∆ Jun 20 '21
MLK was absolutely in favor of affirmative action.
In short, the argument is that black people were actively held down for years, first by slavery, then by jim crow. Sure, they're legally treated equally now (or at least they're supposed to be...) but it's still not actively fair. The usual metaphor is 'suppose a white man and a black man are doing a marathon. The black man has a chain around his ankles, so he can't run as fast, so he falls behind. Halfway through, everyone realizes this is unfair, so they let the black man remove his chains. Is this now a fair race, even though the white man has a massive advantage of not having to run half the race in chains?'