WI No affirmative action?

If AA, positive discrimination, or its Canadian counterpart Employment Equity hadn't been created, what would the effects be? Besides butterflying Powell's Rivers of Blood speech in 1968 :D, would this have political effects?
 
The initial kick start to address long term oppresion wouldn't have taken place and progress towards equality would have been slower. However a lot depends on the definition of affirmative action i.e addressing issues such as training and education or job quotas and positive discrimination. Prominents black figures such as Colin Powell and Barrack O'Bama would probably have got there anyway. Powell had reached the rank of Major by the time of Vietnam. O'Bama would almost certainly have become a state senator as voter registeration would have taken place in the sixties and black people would have been elected through the ballot box without affirmative action once their voting strength was harnessed. Similarly with other minority groups.

However there would be less resentment over job quotas so probably less support for the Republicans. The problem with job quotas is that they may have been necessary as a kick start they are difficult to remove. Ironically Maertin Luther King poinyted out that no group of people ever voluntarily relinquish power voluntarily. I think this applies to positive discrimination.

Perhaps equality legislation in America would have been orientated towards equality of opportunity rather than equality of outcome arguably they are mutally exclusive. UK legislation has until Harriet Harman's so called equalities bill has been aimed at addressing equality of opportunity rather than outcome rendering Powell's predictions innaccurate. The current clause in the eqaulities bill is not a wise course of action when unemployment is rising and a gift to the BNP
 
According to the EEO lecture we got at work today, Australia doesn't have any affirmative action/positive discrimination, and is based on the equality of opportunity model.

Equality of opportunity strikes me as something which probably goes down quite well with establishment types and conservatives who can see which way the wind's blowing around the time your civil rights movement really got going. It has enough of a ring of newness that they can claim to be progressive, while maintaining that "every man makes his own way" attitude which seems so popular in the US.
 
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