Legal & Ethical Business Decisions- need 2 responses with min. 250 words. APA style with references

Below is the discussion topic for the week. Another students response is below. I have to comment on their reponse. Responses must be at least 250 words. Please list references as well in APA format.

Using the articles in the chapter discussing affirmative action what do you believe to be the primary moral wrong committed by discrimination (appeal to the moral theories that have been discussed in the articles and in class to support your position)? What do you see to be the primary moral justifications in favor of affirmative action (again appeal to moral theories to support your position)? Based upon your position do you believe that affirmative action is justified? Why, or why not?

Response:

I believe that the primary moral wrong committed by discrimination is in the way it has become a cultural norm. And I think anything we can put into place to fight that is okay by me. Some people argue that discrimination isn't an issue anymore and it's not because they are trying to belittle a group, it because they just don't even see it . So the commercials where some twenty-something guy is teaching a thirty-something mom how to use Gain detergent to its fullest. Really?! The fact that every commercial for a Luxury vehicle is a male driver? Puh lease! And people, women shop for more than paint and gardening equipment at hardware stores, trust me. Commercials are filled with sexual discrimination but most people think nothing of it. I know that a really granular example, but it makes a strong argument. I know there's a difference between stereotyping and discriminating, I do. But when things are insulting, I think they cross the stereotype line an barge right on into discriminatory.

Discrimination runs rampant and if affirmative action attempts to even things out, then I say go for it. Discrimination disenfranchises entire demographics and that is really unfortunate. Ethically speaking, people should be valued as people, not as parts of a machine. There is value in diversity. Accordingly, "corporations generally agree today that workplace diversity is an extremely important objective and that affirmative action is needed to achieve that" (Beachamp, 2008). I believe affirmative action is justified because I believe discrimination still exists. President Obama JUST signed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to demand that women should get equal pay for equal work. There's no way someone can justifiably argue that discrimination is not an issue. With affirmative action working toward "outreach, remedying discrimination, and achieving diversity" I am all for it and I think based on those goals it is very much worth justifying (Sterba, 2003).