This week: Mend it or end it? Affirmative Action gets tested in California.

Looking for a reason to watch the returns November 5th? Look West, young man (or woman). The biggest issue to be decided in America on Tuesday may just be California's Civil Rights Initiative, Prop. 209. Critics decry the controversial measure to do away with Affirmative Action in that bellwether state as reactionary, but Bob Dole says it "represents and applies America's best principles." And if the tracking polls are right, most Californians agree with Bob. How about you? Do you think Affirmative Action has outlived its effectiveness? Did it ever work in the first place?

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schayne: Discrimination is wrong! It doesn't matter who is discriminated against, it is still just as wrong. Affirmative Action, while its original intent was to curb discrimination, has actually become a tool of discrimination. The truth is, the program itself has degenerated to a mere numbers game. It's all about quotas.

Affirmative Action has become the ultimate insult to the very people it was intended to help. It in effect says: "You can't make it without the government. You are incapable if left on your own."

Government is not God. It cannot solve our moral problems anymore then it can solve our financial problems. It's time we stop giving the government the power to play God and take back our individual freedoms. Merit is the only fair kind of Affirmative Action there is. So this is what we should aspire to.

TBlackmore: All Affirmative Action is is the politically correct term for legalized racism or sexism. If racism and sexism are wrong, why is Affirmative Action legal?

Style: Everyone throws out their opinions of Affirmative Action, but no one is saying specifically what it is. Does Affirmative Action mean having different standards for different races or genders? Does it mean simply reaching out to a variety of people? I live in California and have read the short version of Prop 209. It sounds reasonable to me. What Affirmative Action (at least in its current form) has done is not create happy diversity on campuses or in the workplace, it breeds bitterness. It is a band-aid for a problem that starts much earlier.

Dickj: The fight against Affirmative Action is racism. To call it anything else is hypocritical. It is the weak and cowardly way to rake in votes on the backs of a cleverly disguised end run around the truth.

I get so tired of the Willie Horton bastion of vote-gathering. When you buy votes this way from the ignorant, you wallow in the trough with them. It kinda gets all over you.

papabois: Americans must remember that the nation was founded on false notions of ethnic, somatic and religious superiority and exclusivity. Reparations must be made to the first nations of America and as well to the unwitting African-Americans whose contributions to the building of the republic can never be quantified. People must look at their history and order their lives from it. In a country where the dominant culture is derived from Jim Crow and where states still whistle Dixie it will be another millenium before Affirmative Action can be removed.

yesenia: Well, coming from a woman's view in a majorly male-domainated field of study (flight), I can testify that the original intent of Affirmative Action was good. One must remember though that how one interprets this subject is a reflection of one's own values. It may not seem fair to some, but for others it gives an oppurtunity to make a career (not referring to myself). It is too bad that the government has made companies feel like they have to fill a "quota." Perhaps nothing in this world of ours -- no matter how good the intent -- will ever work. That gives us something to think about, doesn't it?

xprof: Affirmative Action has made a positive difference in many cases but it may be time to replace it with something else. I favor a law with hefty penalties -- hard prison time as well as civil damages -- for anyone caught discriminating against anyone on the basis of race, religion or gender. Let's show the world that we're serious about eradicating discrimination. Faced with that alternative, however, I believe many opponents of Affirmative Action would rather see Affirmative Action remain.

paulgowder: Affirmative Action needs to be given a quiet death by lethal injection. Prop. 209 seems to fit the bill. In a recent Supreme Court case (I forget the name at the moment), Justice Thomas expressed the problems with Affirmative Action. He pointed out that it is completely contrary to Brown v. Board of Education, and to whatever is left of the traditional American ideals of hard work, equality of opportunity, and success on merit. The simple fact is, giving preferences to anyone is wrong. Race/gender is not a qualification for employment, educational admission, or anything else!

mbryson: The basic premise of the Right-wing extremist movement is that we live in a colorblind society that is free of racism. Yet opponents of Affirmative Action invalidate their own argument by once again using the insidious tool of misinformation. The largest group of Affirmative Action benefactors by far is white females, who are deserving due to obstacles they have been confronted with in workplace. But the Right-wingers do not tell you this. Instead, they know that by deceptively defining Affirmative Action as a system that promotes unqualified minorities (read blacks), they can get uninformed nonminority voters and to some degree minority voters out in droves.

tmh: I agree with Affirmative Action if it is done correctly and as I believe it was originally envisioned. It should not be intended to, or misrepresented as a procedure to, give jobs to unqualified people. It should be a program to find qualified applicants and advise them of opportunities that they may compete for or of possible future opportunities. It means that employers should reach out to the community and let the people know what is available, and give them the road map for taking advantage of the opportunities. Once any individual gets to, or in, the door, he or she should be no more or less competitive than anyone else. It was an eye-opener to me, as an employer, to find how lame the excuse was, the one that goes: "but there aren't any qualified X's out there, they don't major in chemistry [or whatever]." That is just a way of saying "Don't bother me," or "to hell with the community."

Paul Bayless: The California Civil (Wrongs!) Initiative -- Proposition 209 -- is deceptive, divisive, and destructive. It is deceptive because its proponents distort the meaning of the principle, and ignore present realities of bigotry. It is divisive because its proponents have contrived to portray Affirmative Action solely as a race issue, while the facts are that women have benefited the most from Affirmative Action. It is destructive because the war cry to end "reverse discrimination" against white men is a blatant appeal to ignorance, a studied blindness to the facts, and deflects the real concerns for our nation's economic future by catering to prejudice.

In the pre-Affirmative Action society, women, minorities, and the disabled were systematically excluded from positions of wealth and power. I've worked in Affirmative Action for more than 15 years, and I know that charges that it's unfair, that it's quotas, that it forces employers to hire unqualified people, and a host of other myths, are simply not true. Sadly, the evidence I see nearly every day demonstrates that we need more Affirmative Action, not less!

DonnaF: The fight against Affirmative action is not only racist but sexist also. I am a female competing in a man's world. Years ago there were EEOC compliance officers that policed any state or federally funded jobs. They disappeared during the Reagan era, and discrimination has become rampant!

RalphWaldo: Affirmative Action is both morally wrong and logically unjustifiable. Discrimination is just as wrong in favor of a minority as it is against a minority. The idea that "it's only fair, since you did it to us" is ridiculous. If my ancestors did something to another person's ancestors, I am in no way responsible, and I should not and will not be punished or in any other way affected for their actions. Secondly, the idea that "if we don't have Affirmative Action, people will be discriminated against" is wrong. They will be anyway, and furthermore, if Joe Bob Floyd starts a business, it is his business and he may hire or fire any person for any reason he wants -- be it quality of work, race, hair color, bad breath, or because the employee was born on the same day as that uncle of his whom nobody talks about.

moet: I am a caucasian divorced mother of five. My son is a math whiz and goes to Georgia Tech. A friend of his in high school -- a negro boy [sic] -- was given a $100,000 college scholarship (college of his choice), guaranteed summer work with NASA, and a guaranteed job with NASA upon graduation from college. This young man is smart, nice, polite, well-behaved, etc. -- a fine young man. However, he didn't even apply for this scholarship -- it was a total surprise to him. There was no test, not even an application to fill out. While I am thrilled to death for him and his family (truly!), i find it rather irritating that such a bonanza is available only to a negro student. That's just not fair!

I also get aggravated that when I go into a McDonald's, or a food store, for example, and there are 95 percent black young people manning the registers, cooking the burgers, etc. You can't tell me that there are no white kids who applied for those jobs. I don't care who works where, as long as they won that job by their own merits.

smouer: Regardless of what the government says I am only going to hire people I like for my company (I'll just be careful as to what I say officially). That being human nature, the only way that Affirmative Action could be made to work is to enforce quotas, and that has resulted in inferior performers being chosen, and inferior services being delivered.

It's time for the "disadvantaged" to stop whining and pretending to be victims, and start preparing themselves for the competition. If some groups remain disadvantaged it's because they continue failing to prepare themselves and/or their parents fail to help or encourage them to prepare. Life is harsh and competitive for the unprepared, for the misguided, and for the lazy, and unfortunately, for their progeny.

PrimalChaos: If Affirmative Action worked, and found out the companies, organizations and individuals that actually discriminate, it would be a good thing. It is often abused in the wrong situations, while the "true offenders," mostly in housing owners, goes unpunished. Equal-opportunity employment should be guaranteed through hard work and competence, not based on a quota system.

CFranco_White: Affirmative Action is nothing but use of power to advance one segment of our peoples by oppressing another. If there ever was any justification for doing this, it has long since disappeared. Today, it is only one more of the special interest forces which are splitting our citizenry into separate, mutually distrustful, groups without any common national identity.

Lady_Cassandra: Being a Hispanic female, I feel much better about myself if I get a job on my own merits instead of somebody giving me a handout for so called "helping me out" to get a job. Let's face it, people, you might get that job based on your race or gender, but everybody is going to know that you weren't as qualified as the person that missed out on the job because his or her race quota were already filled.

JLawrence: Affirmative Action has deprived many hard-working Americans of their livelihood. I know because it happened to me and lowered my standard of living considerably. When human resource directors are given bonuses to discrimate against the most qualified people, it is wrong.

buckyball: There is a question I have had for some time: Who decides which groups count as minorities for Affirmative Action preference? I live in New Mexico and here it seems that Hispanics weigh in more heavily than any other groups. I assume that this comes from the fact that, as a group, Hispanics represent a significant percentage of the population. Is it this way in different areas? Do blacks count for more in the South? Or Asians in California?

maxthecat: Good God, people! This could have been such an intelligent discussion and you all have turned it into a whine-fest. Why is it that the people who are most outspoken against Affirmative Action sound like they're just bitter about getting passed over for that burger-flipping job by some unqualified 'negro boy'? (By the way, special thanks to Moet for that blast from the past. Just a heads-up, Moet: I doubt those 'negro' boys and girls serving you at Mickey D's spend much time celebrating their successful takeover of the fast-food service industry).

Look, for longer than any of us have been around, white men have enjoyed a government-sponsored head start in the rat race, and whether you believe it or not, white men continue to benefit from the effects of that rigged system. Now, I know we're all trying to be fair and colorblind in our hiring practices (ain't that right, smour?), but I've got some news ... there are still bad folks out there (I know, it's not me or you ... it's them) who won't hire someone just because they're black, or a woman, or even a black woman. And unless you enjoy a good race riot every few years, the government may just have to step in now and then to make sure the people in the economic underclass have an opportunity to move on up.

PaulGowder proudly quotes Clarence Thomas, himself a poster boy for Affirmative Action. But face it, Paul: If the "traditional American ideals of hard work, equality of opportunity, and success on merit" ever really existed, we wouldn't be having this discussion today, would we?

All is not well with the country, and there are problems with Affirmative Action, no question. But let's talk about ways to fix it, or offer intelligent alternatives. Because these survey responses just come across as a bunch of people who have their own little crosses to burn ... er, bones to pick with the system.

CLARK_KENT: When you hear the word quota in terms of increasing production, increasing sales or anything else in terms of business it is allright. However, the moment that word is linked with increasing the number of minorities or women in the workforce it is the worst thing imaginable. Why are the CEOs and top management at the Fortune 500 companies 95 percent white males if this is a colorblind society? The basic premise behind the need for Affirmative Action is that like hires like, and the only way to diversify is to force companies to be fair in hiring practices. Before the Civil Rights movement how many companies and universities looked for women or minorities to fill their ranks?

Dr. Karl Borden: Justice Harlan was right over 100 years ago when he penned his great dissent to Plessy v. Fergussun. The constitution is colorblind, and we are all equal before the law. What does it matter whether AA has benefited minorities or women -- the point is that it has engaged in shifting resources in a zero-sum game, and discriminated on the basis of race and gender in doing so. It is, has been, and always will be wrong to do so.

In 1964, I was among those who were being shot at, beat up, thrown in jail and otherwise abused fighting for equal rights in the south. I believed then and believe now in a color blind society. Then I was called a liberal extremist and today I am called a conservative extremist -- for holding the exact same views then and today. All you modern "liberals" -- if you are over 45 years old -- where were YOU in 1964?