Affirmative Action : Equal Employment Opportunity

Ever since President John Kennedy issued executive order 10925 in 1961, Americans have been arguing both for and against its effectiveness and necessity. The importance of executive order 10925 is that it created the Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity and mandated that federally funded projects implement "affirmative action" to insure that hiring and employment practices were free of racial bias. It planned to accomplish this by combating long term racial failures. Essentially, its purpose was to promote equality through fair and equal employment regardless of race. However, many believe that the current practice of hiring and recruiting based on race is counterproductive to the original purpose of executive order 10925 in that employers

In the early 1960’s, President Kennedy issued an executive order to ensure that government contractors hire and treat employees without regard to race, creed, color, or national origin. This executive order was issued so that all would have equal opportunities when qualified especially in regard to higher education and employment. However, it wasn’t until President Johnson issued his executive order in 1965 that it was developed and enforced. Affirmative action was meant to level the playing field so women, minorities, disabled, and other groups that are discriminated against would have same opportunities as those who were not typically known to experience discrimination. Since its inception, issues have been raised regarding reverse discrimination. Affirmative action has given an unfair advantage to minorities when applying for employment and higher education by focusing on gender and race instead of performance, calls into question minorities’ qualifications, and results in the further division of minorities in society by race, gender, or disability.

The equal employment opportunity legislation, especially Title VII, Civil Rights Acts, were necessary actions to desegregate our country. Without them it would have taken years longer to integrate the American workforce. Today I think equal employment opportunity laws are taken for granted. Some people use them to benefit themselves instead for the greater use of mankind. I work for Outback Steakhouse for 12 years from a busser to FOH manager. After being promoted from kitchen manager to FOH manager in 2009 Outback Steakhouse was hit with a suit for being sex bias against women. To show improvement they encourage female employees to join management. I witness females getting promoted to positions in months that took me years. To top

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 empowered minorities in many different ways, most notably in prohibiting discrimination in the workplace. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act expressly prohibits discrimination in hiring, firing, promotion, pay, benefits and other aspects of employment based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin (U.S. Department of Labor, 2012). This law was seen as a major boon to minorities and women in the workforce who had, for years, been subjected to unfair hiring and remuneration practices. But, in order to ensure that there was broad fairness and that employers were abiding by the new law, some steps needed to be taken. One way to monitor employers was to force them to have a certain number of minorities and women on their workforces at all times, greatly increasing the number of minority employees. These affirmative action laws, while still controversial today, have made a huge difference in the composition of our nation's workforce and in the lives of those who have been affected.

The term affirmative action describes policies aimed at a historically socio-politically non-dominant group (typically, minority men or women of all races) intended to promote access to education or employment. Motivation for affirmative action is a desire to redress the effects of past and current discrimination that is regarded as unfair.[who?] It also serves to encourage public institutions such as universities, hospitals and police forces to be more representative of the population[1].

Affirmative action causes the “mismatch” effect for students and schools. According to an article written by The Atlantic, the “mismatch” effect refers to the mismatching of students to a certain college or university (theatlantic.com). When students are accepted into a school that’s not their level academic wise, they “take on the challenge” and attend anyway. However, it’s so far from a fit that they fall instead of rise in their education. A quote from an article written by Elizabeth Slattery goes as follows, “Academic mismatch perpetuates low grades and high dropout rates for minority students who need a racial preference to gain admission.” (dailysignal.com). It’s important for students to enter into a college where they will succeed if they want to get the most out of their education. The mismatch effect causing students who are accepted into schools where they don’t fit academically to fall behind and struggle much more than a student who was prepared for the school. The reason the student is struggling is because they may not have been prepared enough in high school to handle the workload of that school. It’s not that they aren’t capable, they’re just not fully prepared. “The student who would flourish at, say, Wake Forest, instead finds himself at Duke, where the professors are not teaching at a pace designed for him.”

"I had no need to apologize that the look-wider, search more affirmative action that Princeton and Yale practiced had opened doors for me. That was its purpose: to create conditions whereby students from disadvantaged backgrounds could be brought to the starting line of a race many were unaware was even being run," says Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. The civil rights act of 1964 set affirmative action in motion. It gave Minority groups the ability to attend schools and get jobs that they were otherwise restricted from. Affirmative action is a policy designed to redress past discrimination against women and minorities through measures to improve their economic and educational opportunities. Affirmative action affects women, minorities, and those with disabilities. In "Reverse Racism" by Stanley Fish, Fish speaks about affirmative action and gives his own examples of it. Affirmative action is still necessary because it con-fronts discrimination and ensures fair representation of gender and ethnicity within universities and workplaces.

Affirmative action, the act of letting someone acquires education and job opportunities because they were unable to do so before due to race, ethnicity, etc. Everyone came to the United States to learn and increase their education; however, due to the complications that some universities and schools enforce, how can they? America took years and years to convince that affirmative action is the best way for everyone to have the privilege to learn, regardless of race, ethnicity, or color. The baffling factor of how difficult the minorities have to face just so they can sit in a classroom and learn, while the non-minorities can benefit in all its glory. But atlas, things have changed. Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and Women have the equal

Growing up, most people were told to try their hardest to succeed in life and achieve the goals they set for themselves. Adults often told students to study often and work hard for high grades so they could later be admitted to the college of their choice. However, once the program affirmative action was instilled into universities around the nation, it set different qualifications for minority applicants and assigned points based off race. With these new criteria instigated, people saw the program as alluding to the notion that if you came from a particular race, the bar was no longer set at a high standard and therefore no need to work as hard as before. Others saw it as a great step forward to helping those who needed the extra assistance. Affirmative action began through President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Executive Order 11246, created with the hope of increasing diversity throughout the education system and job market. Since it first began it has sparked debate over whether it truly promotes equality and is as progressive as we would like to presume, or is just creating more problems. The program has created a firm divide between those who see it as unfair and those who believe it can still assist minorities. During a time where minorities were discriminated against, affirmative action may have been the best option to overcome racial barriers. However, the nation has made exceptional progress since Johnson’s time as president. Now the program rather brings more issues than

Many who support Affirmative Action defend the policy with cries that racial diversity is needed in colleges, and that Affirmative Action is the only thing that can achieve that. This enforces the assumption that “because a student is part of an underrepresented minority group, he must have different [academic perspectives] than… the majority”(Marquez). Many socio-economic classes rest in one race, and to surmise that one race has a different intellectual standing than another is to generalize and stereotype.

Affirmative Action came about in response to legislation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. There were various political, societal and moral reasons to justify the legislation. Those reasons will be examined.

On March 6th, 1955, President John F. Kennedy signed executive order 10925 enforcing that government corporations not discriminate against anyone based off their race and skin color. This became “positive” discrimination otherwise known as affirmative action. Affirmative action is a method benefiting anyone who have experienced discrimination particular to one’s education and/ or employment (Affirmative Action). In today’s age affirmative action is creating “reverse racism” due to colleges and universities wanting more diversity in their schools, setting white people at an unfair disadvantage. During the 1960’s, implementing race-based affirmative action was the perfect plan, giving diverse people an equal opportunity

“Affirmative Action is an employment program required by federal statutes and regulations designed to remedy discriminatory practices in hiring minority group members” (Farlex). Affirmative Action is a method to help benefit a minority after it has been mistreated. Usually, affirmative action is enforced due to historical reasons. An example of this would be the minority of African Americans being treated poorly through slavery, and then a child being offered higher scholarships if they have proof that a family member was mistreated through slavery. “Affirmative Action is known as ‘Positive Discrimination’ in the UK” (Farlex), but is it really positive? Affirmative Action, while promoting diversity and equality, is a form of discrimination

You go to school for seven hours a day, five days a week, for twelve straight years. You spend afternoons, mornings, and maybe even nights studying for upcoming exams. You stress to score as high as possible on all standardized tests. You get out of school, go straight to soccer practice, then come home, and study for tomorrow’s math test. Even though your schedule is already crazy, you find some time to volunteer at a charity. You try your hardest to be as perfect as you can be. But, when you apply to the college of your dreams, you get rejected. No, you do not get rejected because you are not qualified. You do not get rejected because of your grades, your SAT score, your athletic ability, or your ability to strive in everything you set your

As with our student population, we at the Northwestern Academy believe our teachers and faculty should be as talented as possible. This is the reason that qualifications are the primary consideration when considering potential applicants for our faculty. Race, religion, sex and gender will not be factors in who is hired. However, diversity not only brings advantages in terms of educational benefits, but it also can spur a sense of creativity in the minds of our students and faculty. Because of this, we will provide clear information to our all of our candidates over a broad range of mediums to find many different types of candidates. Even though a portion of our professors come from Northwestern University, some will come from outside of the Northwestern system, and we require these candidates to be just as qualified as the ones that come from within the Northwestern system.