Affirmative Action And The Civil Rights Movement

There are many supporters and opponents of Affirmative Action. The focus of Affirmative action is meant to be an attempt at equality throughout society. Every sector in America would be equal and unprejudiced. On the other hand, adopting affirmative action would force many employers to replace hard-working employees with those possibly less qualified simply due to their gender or ethnicity. Throughout history, people have been categorized into different groups. These groupings were based on certain characteristics people shared, whether it was their ethnicity, race, gender, or religion. Society is notorious for distinguishing among different groups and favoring one or two of them. Undoubtedly, this separation of peoples, led to increased tension between various groups. As time progressed, the conflicts intensified, and it became apparent that a change was necessary. So I intend to educate the reader on the origin of Affirmative Action; how it impacted the American society; is it still needed in today’s environment; what are some of the drawbacks or issues that came from implementing Affirmative Action, and finally what is the most beneficial aspect from Affirmative Action. One of the most famous quotes about Affirmative Action comes from President Lyndon Johnson who explained the rationale behind the use of affirmative action to achieve equal opportunity in a 1965 speech: “You do not take a person, who for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring

Affirmative action is a policy or a program that seeks to redress past discrimination of minorities through active measures in order to ensure equal opportunity, as in education and employment. In other words, it is policy that was established to hopefully eliminate racial preference and equalize the United States. The fight against discrimination has been a long lasting one that started with the case of Plessy vs. Ferguson, which ended in the desegregation of all schools (Ficker). Affirmative action was put into place in 1965 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Executive Order that mandated government contractors to “take affirmative action” in all aspects of hiring and employing minorities (Brunner). Upon its arrival, the policy

Affirmative Action is one of the many social issues facing America today. Affirmative action was signed into place in 1961 by President Kennedy and allows minority groups or people who face discrimination to become employed or get an education that is equal to that of a white male. Groups that Affirmative Action aims to help are women, blacks, Latinos, and people with disabilities. While these policies were signed to slowly rid the workforce and schools from discrimination, it hurts people who do not face discrimination, specifically whites. Many white men and women lose special opportunities to work or go to college because of certain standards that the Affirmative Action laws require. Universities and the military require a certain number of minorities in order to meet the standards and have a more diverse atmosphere. An example of this is the California V. Bakke supreme court case of 1978.

Among the citizens of America affirmative action is a sensitive subject with some seeing it as a necessity to help those who have been repressed and others seeing it as reverse racism. Many Americans may also be conflicted about affirmative action, because it is such a complex issue. People fervently debate affirmative action, because it is a complex issue revolving around one’s own race, experiences, and desires.

Affirmative action was an outcome of the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960s. In the past, affirmative action has been used to improve opportunities with education and employment for excluded minority groups in American society President Kennedy was the first to use this term “in an Executive order that directed government contractors to take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin” (Affirmative Action, 2014).

The purpose of affirmative action is to ensure equal opportunity for minorities. But it has strayed from its original intent and has become largely a program to achieve not equal opportunity but equal results. It is a system of quotas forced upon American businesses and working class by the federal government. A law which forces people to look at race before looking at the individual cannot promote equal opportunity. Affirmative action continues the judgement of minorities by race; it causes reverse discrimination, and contradicts its purpose.

Affirmative Action began in 1965 when President Johnson signed the Executive Order 11246 in to law. The Executive Order prevents federal contractors from discriminating against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The phrase “affirmative action” was first coined, when federal contractors were required to take affirmative action to ensure that applicants were not discriminated against in anyway. When affirmative action was created, it only included minorities. In 1967, Johnson decided to expand the program to include women because women were discriminated against much like minorities. In the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, affirmative action was a method used to stop

Affirmative Action has had a very tumultuous 54-year history. Affirmative action was a strategy that forged the Civil Rights Movement in response to the prejudiced approach toward African American citizens in the United States. The policy advocates that black citizens in particular conditions to avoid the unfairness they would usually receive. To try and explain why the methods and laws needed to be adjusted to be equal for everyone. It is essential to realize that 20 Africans came to America in 1619, records are not clear if they were slaves or indentured servants. It was until 1640 when the first African in Jamestown Virginia was declared a slave. The Court ordered that the slave had to serve his master for the rest of his life. The slaves made to work long hours and numerous slaves’ endured inhuman treatment and underwent severe injuries. American citizens in the South challenged a lengthy campaign to seek to continue to be permitted to own slaves but through Lincoln and abolitionist slave-owning was ultimately banished.

As a minority Roberto Santiago’s essay Black and Latino reveals that even though he has been generally underrepresented by his ethnicity, he has led a successful life without affirmative action. Since Santiago was both African American and Hispanic he dealt with identity issues and stereotypes throughout his adolescent life. Even though affirmative action is supposed to make attempts to improve opportunities for groups that were historically excluded it is still a form of discrimination itself. The preference of one race over another is discrimination despite the fact if the group is gaining benefits. Contemporary society still takes on the controversial debate over affirmative action in educational institutions and employment. Institutions are still pressured to accept more minorities even if they do not meet the full requirements such as in education or in employment. Racial preferences stigmatize minority groups instead of finding better ways to make opportunities equal to minorities. Affirmative action also implies that all minority groups need more assistance in order to succeed, but according to Santiago he triumphed without needing compensation. In educational institutions such as universities they are influenced by affirmative action; since they admit students based on race instead of looking for their qualifications. Even though affirmative action is supposed to create diversity in schools it does not help if minority students are not prepared for a higher

Have you ever wondered why all companies have employees of all races? Affirmative Action sought to give African Americans workers and minorities equal access to education and employment which was previously denied to them. It makes companies and schools give equal access to minorities.

Today affirmative action becomes one of the most controversial subjects in the country, with as many supporters claiming it is equality, fairness, diversity, while opponents claim it is pure reverse discrimination. Proponent of affirmative action state it is needed for diversity in the work place, in our universities but those who oppose called it preference. In this paper, I will explore affirmative action, does it only benefit minorities (African Americans) or all races. Does affirmative action cause complex issues such as discrimination? Was there a significant increase in enrollment for minorities after Affirmative

Affirmative Action remains one of the more complicated and controversial topics dealt with in American society. Affirmative Action is an action or policy designed to protect specific groups who suffer from discrimination, and provide them with programs and special opportunities. These government or private programs were designed to set right historical injustices towards the members of these groups who have suffered things like employment and educational disadvantages from racial discrimination. The goal for these actions are to redress past wrong doings by fixing things like inequalities in employment and pay, as well as increasing opportunities for education. By achieving this, the outcome would restore equal access and opportunity in favor of the members of these groups. These groups generally consist of certain minorities that have suffered from social ills such as slavery and segregation.

Affirmative action was introduced into the United States to eliminate discrimination in hiring and enrollment for minority groups. It was used to eradicate all the countless years of discrimination that minorities had faced. Affirmative Action provides equal opportunities for all Americans. Without this program, social and economic inequalities would still exist. Reason being is because companies will still neglect to integrate minorities. The main goal of affirmative action was to provide minority groups the equal opportunity to achieve a successful lifestyle and by doing this, it shows that affirmative action is required in America. To be able to end the countless acts of discrimination in education, the workforce and amongst the society in whole we must continue to enforce and embrace Affirmative Action.

     What is it? Well affirmative action is, in plain text, the consideration of your class, race, gender, color, ethnicity, national origin, and disability when deciding who gets a certain job or admission into a school. If you are amenity applying for a job and there are other people that are applying as well then you will be considered for the job over one of the other people, even if they have more experience. It is not only for jobs, it is also used in any situation that there is a minority or different person, racially or ethnicity, because the particular business or corporation needs to have some minorities working in that business or in that school. They do this because of a

According to Raymond A. Noe, affirmative action is an organization’s active effort to find opportunities to hire or promote people in a particular group (Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 68). There are various arguments for and against affirmative action. Some believe that it gives certain groups of people an equal opportunity to find employment where they would otherwise be kicked under the rug. Others believe that even though it creates an opportunity for minority groups, the issue of reverse discrimination comes into play where once predominantly white male jobs offerings go to women and minority groups instead. The topic of affirmative action remains very controversial and