Affirmative action

The state of Utah wants to get rid of affirmative action. Some legislators claim that it causes more problems between members of ethnic groups, and that it is discriminatory. There was a debate held at a Baptist church in Salt Lake yesterday. I would now like to explain what this is so that you can make an informed decision about the issue.
First of all affirmative action does not mean that an employer has to hired unqualified employees, it does mean that an employer has to hire qualified employees who are ethnically diverse. It should be noted that right now the group that benefits from affirmative action the most is women. Before affirmative action employers were rejecting resumes from women because they felt that women were not suited for certain kinds of work. We have seen that change a lot in the past few years.
Society as a whole benefits from affirmative action, studies have shown that young people do better in school if they have role models of their own ethnicity to look up to. Schools of higher learning benefit from a diverse class room. Of greatest importance is the benefit gained by the employees and students themselves' finally a smart member of a minority group can gain access to something that was beyond him/her.
We like to believe that we are a meritocratic society, we are not. As was pointed out in a recent Colorado study most jobs are filled by word of mouth not by resume and interview.
Perhaps one day we will judge potential employees or students on merit but we are not there yet. Until we get to that point we need affirmative action.
The last thing I want to say is this, in a time where people are worried about jobs why is our legislature arguing this issue.
Utah would be taking a huge step back in the civil rights movement and as human beings if they cheat others out of equality.