Affirmative Action Essay

In the controversial realms of affirmative action, the largest issue staunchly fought over is whether minorities should be given preferential treatment in the workplace and in the schools. One side declares that those in the minority group need and deserve governmental aid so that they will be on equal footing with the majority group. Opponents of affirmative action point out that setting apart groups based on their race or ethnicity is purely racism and can lead to reverse discrimination. I am against affirmative action for the aforementioned reasons, and would not consider such racism as necessary for creating a healthy society, as proponents would insist. It is my belief that affirmative action today is out of date and is

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 was created to assist minority groups against discrimination, but affirmative action does more harm than what it can do to help. Affirmative action was created with the intention of leveling the playing field so that everyone can have an equal opportunity to be hired or accepted in to a school, but it does the opposite of what it is meant to do. Affirmative action is reverse discrimination against white males, lesser qualified people are admitted into jobs and colleges, and not all people have an equal opportunity to advance.

The revered civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” In other words, don’t discriminate people because of their race. This should hold true in all aspects of life. Every American deserves an equal opportunity to succeed, which is why affirmative action is inherently racist. Affirmative action refers to various government policies that aim to increase the proportion of minorities and women in jobs and educational institutions historically dominated by white men. The policies usually require employers and institutions to set goals for hiring or admitting minorities. It is responsible for colleges discriminating against Eastern Asians and whites and for employers hiring workers based off of skin color rather than skills or experience. People can’t change their race (except for former president of the Spokane N.A.A.C.P. chapter, Rachel Dolezal, apparently), yet many colleges and employers favor certain races over others by using quotas, or a fixed number of people of each race.

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.

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.

Many people have built up stereotypes about certain minority groups and women and believe that that hiring a white male would be the best option because they are more dependable. This ignorance prompts businesses to hire only white males and not minorities or women, and if not for affirmative action then that’s all modern day Corporate America would be full of those who are “dependable”. Let’s not forget the racism that prompted affirmative action to be initiated. African Americans were a depressed race for many years because they were thought of as less than human beings and were treated unfairly until recently. Women were unable to vote, work, or even own land for many years. Does affirmative action produce some form of reverse discrimination (Dworkin 1986)? The answer to that question would be no it doesn’t; it just evens the playing field or counter acts the discrimination that it already out there. Without a program out there to enforce equality for all men and women, who’s to say we won’t revert back to our old ways?

Racial discrimination occurs everyday to many different people. In America,the individuals who are usually discriminated against are the minorities like African Americans and Hispanics. Affirmative action is a policy that was created and has been claimed to be positive discrimination. The policy was created to give equal opportunity to groups of people who are usually discriminated against. Although Affirmative action has been named to be positive and support minorities, it is still unjust. There should be no positive aspects of racial discrimination. Many believe that it is only racial discrimination or racist if a caucasian person discriminates against a person of color but do not consider it racism if it happens to be the other way around. Racial Discrimination in any form is harmful which is why affirmative action policies are not correct.

When addressing legal issues of diversity in the modern day era, one main topic is brought to discussion, affirmative action. It was put into place by the federal government in the 1960’s and was initially developed to close the gap in relation to the privileged majority and the unprivileged minority in America (Aguirre Jr. & Martinez, 2003). While it has been controversial since its origin, it remains controversial as critics argue it tries to equalize the impact of so many

     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

If we base our decisions on race or gender, we turn our back on the group that truly needs assistance: the low-income family. Race is present in every level of society, the lower class, the middle class, and the upper class. Then why should middle- and upper-class minorities benefit today with special privileges when they may have not been personally affected by discrimination? There are no policies or procedures of affirmative action that prove an individual deserves special privileges. In theory, a wealthy minority citizen would receive more advantages in society than an underprivileged or low-income white male. In this case, the underprivileged is in more need, but the determination of the benefits is solely decided by ethnicity and not by proven hardship or financial need. The Center for Equal Opportunity has expressed their disapproval of affirmative action specifically because it has been an unnecessary benefit for wealthy minority business owners. The most disadvantaged group of Americans are not blacks, Hispanics or women—they are the low-income individuals who are underprivileged.

America is known as the land of opportunity, where one could achieve anything they put their mind to, no matter who they are. Thousands of people from all over, migrate to the United States every year so that they can have access to opportunities they never had before. This is well known as, "the American dream”. Affirmative action has helped minorities to try and reach their American dream. Despite the fact that minorities and women have made a lot of headway in equality over the past decades, affirmative action should still be in place in the work place and education due to the hardship of minorities and women in the fight for equality. Minorities and as well as women has been oppressed for years while white men were moving forward and gaining more power in the country.

One of the largest injustices in the world is racism, and sexism, and America is no exception. There has been centuries of slavery, and decades of segregation, oppression, and unfair treatment. However, as time passed, and people worked tirelessly to bring to light the injustices in our society, and government, these practices became less and less acceptable. The government ended up removing laws and creating new ones with the goal of giving both minorities and women equal opportunities, which is exactly what those people were fighting for. The problem was just because the law says you can’t discriminate based on race, that didn’t change people’s long held perceptions and stereotypes, so something needed to change. So the government instituted Affirmative Action with the goal of tilting the scales toward the favor of minorities and women, to correct the tilt that racism and sexism created.

(Read Thomas Sowell's Affirmative Action Around The World and Basic and Applied Economics) It also causes unprepared applicants to be accepted in highly demanding educational institution or jobs which result in eventual failure. (See, for example, Richard Sander's study of affirmative action in Law School and bar exam). Lastly, by lowering the bar, it denies those who strive for excellence on their own merit the sense of real achievement. (See, for example, Clarence Thomas' "My Grandfather's Son: A Memoir".) Some argue that affirmative action itself has some merit when it is targeted to true cause of social deprivation such as poverty while race, ethnicity or gender based affirmative action is misguided.[3]

One day, there were two people who went to a company for a job interview for only one job position. The first candidate graduated from a prestigious and highly academic university, had years of work experience in the field, and in the mind of the employer, had the potential to make a positive impact on the company's performance. The second candidate does not have a college degree and is just starting out in the field and seemed to lack the ambition that was visible in his opponent. Who do you think was hired for the position? If this story took place before 1964, the answer would be obvious. However, with the adoption of the social policy known as affirmative action, the answer becomes unclear. Affirmative action is a product of the civil