Alternative for Affirmative Action

There are a few possible alternatives to affirmative action, some of them are very simple and some are a little more complex.  The alternatives discussed in this paper will include: reconstruction of civil society in minority communities, increasing minority and female applicant flow, and most important promote broad policies for economic opportunity and security that benefit low- and middle-income Americans, black and white.

      "Building up civil society means strengthening 'intermediate' institutions, lying between the state and the individual, such as community associations, schools, media, and independent social agencies, which provide the organizational foundation for collective development and effective public representation."  (Starr p. 4) If the same capital was made available for minority institutions, as other institutions, they would be able to develop in the society and eventually become a strong part of the minority community. These institutions would give direction and guidance that is needed by all to play a major role in his/her community.

      Increasing minority and female applicant flow would be very easy for a company to do.  They simply need to include minority colleges and universities in campus recruitment programs, place employment opportunities in minority oriented print and broadcast media, and retain applications of un-hired minority applicants to be reviewed as a position opens.  This would be a great opportunity for applicants and employers.

      We should work toward broad based economic policies by consistently emphasizing broad-based, race-neutral policies- for example, public investment, national health reform, an enlarged earned income tax credit, child support assurance, and other policies benefiting families with young children. Widely supported programs that promote the interests of both lower- and middle-income Americans-and that deliver substantial benefits to minorities on the basis of their economic condition- will do more to reduce minority poverty than narrowly based, and poorly funded, measures for minority groups or the poor alone.  These efforts can also be designed to coincide with intermediate institutions and thereby to contribute to the overall process of civil reconstruction and renewal.