I was wondering if they have affirmative action or something similar to that in other countries, like Canada and western Europe for example. I hate to have to agree with people like George W. Bush. But it is kind of a form of soft bigotry. You're already assuming some people can't succeed or need help. But we do need a way of dealing with things like unequal treatment and opportunity. Plus you know, in places like Canada and Europe, they do often do things better than here in the US (like universal health care).
The U.K has Positive Action. Serbia has social Inclusion Malaysia has the New Economic Policy. I'm sure there are many other programs in many other countries. I don't think there is any assumption going on in these various programs. I think there is a realistic evaluation of the effects of discrimination and an attempt to rectify them. By the way, it seems Canada is behind the U.S. in this regard. At least it was until the current U.S. Supreme Court.
Education is free for students from the European Union and Switzerland in Denmark. And of course , students from Denmark.
Neither Canada nor Western Europe had anything comparable to U.S. slavery or the aftermath of Reconstruction. LBJ who started the federal affirmative action program said it would be unrealistic to bring people who had spent their lives in chains to the starting line of a race and tell them they're on a level playing field. There are other countries that have similar programs. India's programs for lower caste students https://www.routledge.com/Identity-...e-Disadvantaged/Jenkins/p/book/9780415560627; Brazil's race based programs for black, mixed race and indigenous students https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-19188610; France's priority zones for low income and immigrant neighborhoods https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-19188610; and programs for women in many countries Affirmative Action Initiatives Around the World | International Higher Education would be examples. Affirmative action around the world https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/06/29/affirmative-action-global-supreme-court/ Affirmative Action around the World | Hoover Institution Affirmative Action around the World AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 WAYS: Affirmative Action around the World | Hoover Institution AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 WAYS: Affirmative Action around the World (Note: the last two sources are the work of Thomas Sowell, and outspoken conservative African-American critic of affirmative action, whose career may have benefited informally from being a black Republican).
