Benefits Of Affirmative Action

The Founding Fathers wanted all men to be treated equal. The Declaration of Independence states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Jefferson, 1776). Unfortunately, equality for everyone has not been truly realized. The main issues affected were people’s skin color and gender. Women and people of color were not considered to be equal for many years. To correct this issue Affirmative Action was implemented. Affirmative Action helped people of color and women to be considered for jobs and accepted into colleges equally among other candidates. Today, equality between races and genders has improved, although Affirmative Action should be modified to meet the needs of today’s society.

Affirmative action policies are passionately debated by everyone from educators and politicians to ordinary citizens, all who hold differing opinions on both the necessity and validity of the policies. There is no doubt affirmative action is an emotional topic and deals with the

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.

Throughout America there are many different views on the effects of affirmative action. Many see it as a negative policy which gives an unnecessary advantage to minorities in America. In a 2009 Pew Poll, “58% of African Americans agree” and only “22% whites agree” that there should be “preferential treatment to improve the position of blacks and other minorities” ("Public Backs Affirmative Action”).

College is a privilege that is now accessible to many people. It has not always been this way though. Lack of money, being deprived of representation, or racism hindered one’s chances in to getting into higher education, especially a minority’s chance. In order to raise against the barriers, President John F. Kennedy created the affirmative action program to provide equal opportunities for everyone, whether in education or in the workforce. Even if this was a program created in the 1960’s, problems continue to present itself as shown through the many court cases, such as Brown vs. Board of Education, Fisher vs. University of Texas, Grutter vs. Bollinger et al, and Hopwood vs. State of Texas. Thus, racial inequality and affirmative action

Affirmative action was put in place to give minority groups like African Americans, Latinos, and women, who were historically discriminated against in the past, special access to jobs and education. And I can understand the purpose of this several years ago; there were very little to no opportunities for these groups. Affirmative action provided programs to these groups that weren’t available otherwise. But in the 21st century, things are very different. Although racism is still an issue in our country, it’s nothing like it used to be. And there are far more opportunities

The issue at hand is if affirmative action is necessary. Does America need it? Is it fair? Is it actually helping minorities get ahead? Is affirmative action causing “reverse discrimination?” The targeted audience seems to be major corporations and education administrators. The main point of their thesis is affirmative action helps minority groups gain access to education and jobs that they would not usually have access to. The purpose of this article is to inform their audience why affirmative action is a necessary policy to have.

For many the subject of affirmative action is worth protesting over, however, there are a few who would love to see the existence of affirmitive action abolished. Affirmative action has always been a long debated topic with two different communites arguing very different view points. Although affirmitive action can cause friction among many different opionated people, on the other hand, the results of the practice has ensured the college educations for many of minorities in America. Should this practice be allowed during the college admissions process is the question that remains to be debated. The right to attend college is considered to be a privilege for students who are able to enroll within a university of their choice. Those who

     The subject of affirmative action in college admissions has been hotly debated since its inception. Although affirmative action was originally supported by the vast majority, that same majority is now starting to wonder if there is a better way. Commonly asked questions include: “Is affirmative action still working?” and “Is there an alternative?” The answers to each of these questions will provide insurmountable evidence that affirmative action in college admissions no longer fulfills its intended purpose and that the only viable alternative is to focus more attention on primary schooling for the underprivileged.

Coupled with previous information on why Affirmative Action policies can help promote diversity and give minorities improved opportunities overall is a statement from former Secretary of the United States Condoleezza Rice. Rice emphasized on how Affirmative Action has given her the perfect opportunity to prove herself in academics, in a time and place where African-American women were not taken seriously. Rice goes on to say that “I myself am a beneficiary of a Stanford strategy that took Affirmative Action seriously.”(Rice) Given the opportunity Rice excelled in academics especially in government where she rose up the rank and became Secretary of State under the Bush administration. Even President Barrack Obama excelled at an intuition that used Affirmative Action to propel qualified minority applicants. Comparatively these reasons alone help identify how Affirmative Action plays a key role in giving opportunities to

The disassembling of affirmative action is based the perceptions that people hold in today’s social and political arena. The held perceptions do not have to be true, they just have to be believed reality for the people who hold those perceptions. By reviewing the rational, analyzing data opposing and supporting affirmative action we can see that anti-affirmative action laws will cause a setback in education, and this is important to show that affirmative action is needed and should encompass more marginalized minorities.

As a testament to the next discussion point of opportunities, especially within the realm of college admission, I have experienced firsthand the opportunities presented by affirmative action. As a low-income, first-generation college student, Virginia Tech had offered me a full scholarship based solely on merit and financial need. As a “minority” according to Virginia Tech, I had an

underrepresented students benefit from a multicultural education but all students, even those who are benefactors of the privilege commiserate with membership in the dominant group” (Thorington 2). Affirmative action is a strategic method that provides both colleges and all students a benefit of learning and adapting to the real world.

     Affirmative action has helped the income, promotion and labor force participation rates of both women and minorities. For example, between 1982 and 1995, the percentage of female managers and professionals in the U.S. rose from 40.5 to 48.0 percent; blacks from 5.5 to 7.5 percent, and Hispanics from 5.2 to 7.6 percent. By comparison, these groups form 51.2 percent, 12.6 percent, and 10.2 percent of the population, respectively. Progress has been steady, but still incomplete.

With affirmative action, equal opportunities can be provided to the minority, it gives every an equal chance in university admission or employment opportunities. For example, it will be easier for women to apply for jobs which are meant for men, like construction worker.