Affirmative Action Pros And Cons

Affirmative action was a temporary remedy that would last until there was a level playing field for all Americans. However, this was not the case; in the 1970s, there was a lot of backlash and arguments about affirmative action and how it was a form of reverse racism. The Bakke Case made the argument of reverse racism famous. “In 1978, a white male, had been rejected two years in a row by a medical school that had accepted less qualified minority applications- the school had a separate admissions policy for minorities and reserved 16 out of 100 places for minority students” (Brunner & Rowen, 2014). From this, the Supreme Court made it illegal to have quota systems in affirmative action programs.

The history of affirmative action goes back farther than one might think. Affirmative action is not a new concept. It has

The words "affirmative action" were first recorded in law in the year 1961 under the presidency of John F. Kennedy. Congress passed Executive Order 10925 instructing federal contractors to take "affirmative action to ensure that applicants are treated equally without regard to race, color,

The history of how Affirmative Action came to is very simple. President John Kennedy issued executive order 10925 in 1961. This created the Committee on Equal Employment and ordered that federally funded projects to take “affirmative action”. This is

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.

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

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 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.

History needs to be revisited in order to understand the need for Affirmative Action. The Founding Fathers did not define “men” as Caucasian men only, but that all races and genders should be included in the equality mentioned in the Declaration of Independence. It would have been nice for the Founding Fathers to define the meaning of certain words in the founding documents, but they did not see the need for such information. Based on the actions of people in the early years of America, it can be determined that Caucasian males were considered to be on a higher plane than other races or genders. The majority of slave owners

Affirmative action took on many different forms, but generally it provided for a quota system for the hiring or admission of underrepresented groups such as racial minorities and women. During the growing conservative movement of the 1970s, opponents began to gain support for the idea that affirmative action was "reverse discrimination.” A key Supreme Court case was Bakke v. University of California, which upheld affirmative action but struck down the quota system used at the school. This pattern would continue as future court cases placed more limits on affirmative

Discrimination and segregation have been inbred into America’s history from day one. Therefore, there have been many laws and bills passed to break down barriers between privileged whites and unfortunate minorities. Among these government actions are the 14th Amendment, Equal Pay Act, and the Civil Rights Acts. John F. Kennedy perhaps created one of the most heavily debated policies today, his Affirmative Action Policy. Affirmative action is defined as, “the practice of improving the educational and job opportunities of members of groups that have not been treated fairly in the past because of their race, sex, etc.” (“Definition of AFFIRMATIVE” 1). The definition itself is vague and open for a good deal of interpretation which causes much of today’s debates. The most recent interpretation of Affirmative Action came from the Fisher vs. University of Texas at Austin (UT of Austin). Fisher was a white individual who was denied acceptance into the university, and then filed a lawsuit against them. Fisher lost the case at the Supreme Court level in 2013, but the case returned in 2016 again with a much closer vote, so affirmative action is losing some of its power and will continue to be challenged for years to come, but is it worth the challenge (Kut.org 1)? Affirmative Action has served a vital role in the integration of race into universities and the workforce, but now it is outdated and an unnecessary requirement for schools and businesses.

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.

Mulnere, Kaitlyn. "Should Low Income Students Get More Preferences in College Admissions?" Money. www.time.com/money/4176157/economic-affirmative-action-low-income-students-college-admissions Accessed 20 February 2018.

Discriminating against people for their sex and race was already illegal. People began to realize that simply preventing further discrimination did not make up for the past discrimination that people in minority groups went through. Due to the previous discrimination, members of the minority did not have the experience, status, or contacts to perform as well as those who were not (Gorman 1143). The reason Affirmative Action was created is because people that had been discriminated against needed a chance to “catch up” to the group that did not suffer (“Affirmative Action” Gale).

Affirmative action is no exception; it stems from a history of racial discrimination culminating with the civil rights movement of the 1960s. During the 1960s blacks and many whites rallied to challenge the history of racism in America, and to grant civil rights to blacks who had been discriminated against since colonial times. This movement garnered great support from the Democratic administration of President Lyndon Johnson, and even though the American South was a solid Democrat voting bloc, they opposed reform and granting civil rights. Despite hostility within in the Democratic Party, civil rights were granted to blacks, and affirmative action was created by President Johnson in 1965 under Executive Order 11246. This order’s stated purpose was 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.” In 1967 EO 11246 was expanded to protect women as well. While initially used to combat discrimination in employment, the philosophy and politics of affirmative action was eventually expanded to include education.