Is affirmative action a good or a bad thing?

Question

Is affirmative action a good or a bad thing?

Answer 1

It was useful and necessary when it began.

It is now simple and straightforward racism. It needs to end.

Answer 2

Bad thing.  Anytime you hire someone using criteria other than qualifications, you are doing a disservice to your customers.

Edit:  Just a bit more.  From the book "Economic Facts and Fallacies" by Thomas Sowell

"The percentage fo black families with incomes below the poverty line fell most sharply between 1940 and 1960, going from 87 percent to 47 percent over that span, before either the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and well before the 1970s, when "affirmative action" evolved into humerical "goals" or "quotas".  While the downward trend in poverty continued, the pace of that decline did not accelerate after these legal landmards but in fact slackened."

source for this section of the book is "Stephan Thernstrom and Abigail Thernsstrom, America in Black and White, p. 233

Another good source is the book "Stupid Black Men - How to Play the Race Card and Lose", by Larry Elder.  (a black man)

Answer 3

I'm sure this'll be an unpopular opinion but it's a good thing. It was put in place because minorities simply were not being hired due to prejudice from prospective employers. Unfortunately that prejudice remains, so non-minorities are still hired more often but due to affirmative action minorities at least have a better chance of being hired.