Affirmative Action Is The Perfect Plan

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

Affirmative action policies have been in place since 1957 (Rubio 144). Presidents Kennedy and Johnson signed executive orders in 1961 and 1964, respectively, requiring government agencies and their contractors to take 'affirmative' steps to ensure minority participation. Johnson's order was modified two years later to include women. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discriminatory hiring, promotion, and retention practices in both the private and public sectors, and established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

According to Newman, affirmative action is a “program designed to seek out members of minority groups for positions from which they had previously been excluded, thereby seeking to overcome some institutional racism” (Newman, 536). Affirmative action made its debut with a piece of legislature passed by President Lyndon Johnson in 1964 and continues to this day. However, the concept of affirmative action is a controversial issue that continues to be hotly debated.

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).

July 6, 1964: President Lyndon B. Johnson signs The Civil Rights Act, which prohibits racial discrimination and mentions the use of “affirmative action to overcome the effects of prior discrimination.”

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

In the early 60s the concept of affirmative action was being tossed around. By the 1980s affirmative action was common place. Affirmative action was put in place to ensure that someone was not over looked for an opportunity on the bases of their gender,

Taking a step back, before reverse discrimination can happen affirmative action must first be present. Affirmative action came about, at least in the modern era, when President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802 “requiring defense contractors to pledge nondiscrimination in employment in government-funded projects” (Affirmative action, n.d.). However, it was not until President Kennedy issued Executive Order 10925 that affirmative action started to take real shape. This order required “not only that federal contractors pledge non-discrimination but that they ‘take affirmative action to ensure’ equal opportunity, that the now-fractious phrase came into popular discourse. Kennedy's order also included penalties -- including suspension of a contract -- for non-compliance” (Affirmative action, n.d.). In 1972, affirmative action changed yet again in response to the large number of disabled Vietnam Veterans.

Throughout its earlier beginnings, Affirmative action was created by Universities who were obliged to improve the educational opportunities of groups who have experienced prejudice in the past, however defies the basis of American civilization. The leading figures in American Independence battled adversity to create an equal chance for all people. “Martin Luther King, Jr., said in 1963, ‘I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold those truths to be self evident’, that all men are created equal” (Pearson). In the effect of these leading figures in the revolution of independence, there were dreams to create a different nation, where freedom and were the basis for right and wrong. Throughout time, leaders of change have worked to give equal opportunity to young adults everywhere. “Affirmative Action in the United States dates from the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson in the early 1960s. After signing the Civil Rights Act into law in 1964 prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin, President Johnson went one step further” (Stokely).

During the 1950’s and 1960’s there were major changes in civil rights taking place within the United States. In 1964 Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, which sought to create equal opportunity for minority groups in the nation and eliminate discrimination. Shortly thereafter, “the goal of the civil rights movement shifted from the traditional aim of equality of opportunity through nondiscrimination alone to affirmative action to establish ‘goals and timetables’ to achieve absolute equality between blacks and whites” (Dye 253). These goals and timetables were cemented with Executive Order No. 11246, issued by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965. This order is commonly referred to as the foundation for modern-day

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 10925, which created the Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity, or CEEO. One purpose of the CEEO was to “recommend additional affirmative steps which should be taken by executive departments and agencies to realize more fully the national policy of nondiscrimination” (Kennedy). This executive order planted the seeds that grew into what is today known as “race-based affirmative action,” or the “practice of actively recruiting members of historically marginalized racial and ethnic groups for jobs, promotions, and educational opportunities” (Schaefer 413). The rationale behind race-based affirmative action policies is that they help blunt the effects of institutional racism while promoting diversity.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 gave birth to a new program, which regulated the granting of federal contracts. This program was entitled Affirmative action. Today affirmative action has become a device to prevent discrimination against minorities and women in the workplace and educational institutions. Affirmative action is responsible for the following:

fifty years later, the practice of affirmative action has been at the vanguard of intense

Affirmative action was reborn in the modern era with the Executive Order No. 10925.With this executive order president John F. Kennedy sought to fight for the equality in the fields of employment. An equality that John F. Kennedy thought that can be achieved with the help of the “ Affirmative action” that would ensures equal employment opportunity without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin. Affirmative action was implemented to help heal the racial segregation that the United States engaged for more than 300 years. Affirmative action is and still be a fundamental need for today’s society, in order to provide the needed support for the minorities to incorporate themselves

Affirmative Action has been an issue of contention since its inception during the Civil Rights struggles of mid 20th century America. Discrimination could no longer be tolerated and the Unites States government had an obligation to encourage equality at all levels of the social infrastructure. The main type of discrimination being addressed by Affirmative Action programs was racial discrimination. The Merriam Webster dictionary defines racism as: ‘a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.’ The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited discrimination of any kind, laid the foundation for the introduction of Affirmative Action