What does equality mean? For many centuries, America has had a difficult time answering that question. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, African Americans were not equal: white Americans would call them their property, put them into iron shackles, and would mercilessly beat them. From the seventeen to the nineteen hundreds and a lot longer before then, women were forbidden to vote; instead, women were expected to act as homemakers or work long hours within small factories in filthy conditions. Yet today, the issues of equality have been challenged by affirmative action. Across the nation, the use of affirmative action in education has stirred significant controversy. Some people believe that instigating affirmative action in the …show more content…
Paul Gaston, a university professor who has taught for more than 40 years, has witnessed the changes on campus after affirmative action was introduced and concluded that “before African American undergraduates arrived on campus, white students used to feel they had permission to say just about anything that came to mind about race” (Clayton). The ethnic diversity of students has made a remarkable change on campuses today. Now, students not only gain knowledge from their professors, but from their fellow students as well. “It made people [be] more honest, think harder, learn more, and be more sensitive to others,” Professor Gaston commented (quoted in Clayton). A diverse college experience encourages students acclimate to being more tolerant of diversity, thus giving them an opportunity to learn and to live in harmony with people of different backgrounds.
Besides the fact that Affirmative Action can create a diverse environment, it also helps increase the chance for minority groups to get accepted into higher education systems as well. Studies have shown that students from families where few people have pursued higher education are less likely to excel in high school. On average, African American students will be four years behind the typical white or Asian student by 12th grade (Thernstrom). Two of the élite University of California campuses, Berkeley and UCLA, witnessed a dramatic decrease in African American and Hispanic
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 government law or because they
If institutions of higher education are to keep open minded campuses, they will have to combat beliefs of mismatching so that Affirmative Action(AA) can keep making a difference. Diversifying schools, giving minorities the opportunity of receiving a quality education, and combating stereotypes are three of the many ways AA has been making a difference. Additionally, institutions can advocate for the success AA has had in educating minorities by promoting and advertising fellow AA beneficiaries at their campuses. An example would be the advertisement of Sonia Sotomayor who attended Princeton University thanks to AA. Through AA institutions of higher education are able to alter the social construct of their campuses in order to make the world a more accepting place for change and difference. AA is currently being viewed by some as a negative force for minority youth applying to colleges due to
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.
The fact that, in most cases, a minority student will get accepted over a white student with the same or almost the same qualifications is causing controversy all over the nation. This is precisely the definition of affirmative action. In an excerpt titled Affirmative Action and the College Admissions Process from the book, 8 Steps to Help Black Families Pay For College, by Thomas and Will LaVeist, it is stated that, “affirmative action is meant to level the playing field and ensure that schools and businesses are not intentionally discriminating against minority groups.” This leveling of the playing field leads to the very broad generalization and misperception that the policy is allowing less-qualified minorities to take the place of the more-qualified whites.
Since its implementation in the United States in 1965, affirmative action has been a heated topic of debate. Designed to address the issue of inequality in American society, affirmative action is a number of programs and policies designed to give women and racial minorities more opportunities in education and the job market. As a result, affirmative action has received opposition, mainly from blue collar white males who feel that it compromises their best interests. In this paper, we will attempt to evaluate the impact of affirmative action on all Americans and its effectiveness in addressing the issue of inequality.
Affirmative action in higher education should be abolished. College admissions should be based on what the admissions board is looking for, not what the government says should be required. In this paper, I will present evidence to support that position.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…." Even before it became a nation, America was heralded as a land of equality. Thomas Jefferson's statement begs more than a few questions, one of which is: "How can we ensure equality to everyone?" Beginning in the late 1960s, the federal government provided an answer to this question in the form of affirmative action. In recent years, many people have called this policy into question. Interestingly, affirmative action is sometimes attacked by the people it helps, and defended by those it hurts. In particular, two recent essays demonstrate that people's race does not necessarily determine their beliefs on the issue of affirmative
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.
It is quite common to see people in all races study in the same classrooms nowadays, but back to history this kind of classroom was nearly impossible to exist. The reason behind this huge transformation is because of affirmative action. Although there is a heated debate on whether college admission should only be based on students’ merits or minority races. be racial conscious. This debatable topic leads to a question that affirmative action should be banned or not. Affirmative action is necessary during the college admission process, because affirmative action is beneficial for the colleges to become more cultural and racial diverse and minorities can gain greater power in the society and promoting the equality for minorities.
As America nears the end of the twentieth century, we still face many lingering problems that stand unresolved. One of the most pressing and difficult problems is that of human relations, or to many, the trigger word race relations. For over 225 years America has been trying to fulfill the promise of the founders of this nation that “All Men Are Created Equal”, yet we still see institutionalized injustices and discrimination. Therefore, this paper attempts to look at one controversial issue that was implemented to correct previous human relation injustices of our nations. This issue is Affirmative Action. To examine affirmation action, this paper looks at the
March 6th, 1961 Affirmative Action policies in higher education were implemented (Infoplease). Affirmative Action was designed to provide equal access to universities for historically underrepresented minorities. The argument of whether Affirmative Action should be decimated is a simple one. Students who have the academic credentials and earn their way into college deserve to be accepted. For no reason should previously excluded minorities gain unfair leverage in an attempt to “right past wrongs”. But with Affirmative Action banned in only eight states, we are left with two questions; how exactly Affirmative Action affects the culture within universities to have it seen as an unjust policy, and can diversity continue to survive without this program.
In eight University of California campuses where affirmative action is no longer implemented the enrollment of black students only declined by 17% and the enrollment of Hispanics declined only by 6.9%. Even without the use of it, minorities are still getting into colleges. There is no need for discriminatory programs like affirmative action because there is not a big difference between minority groups and whites anymore. If some person has the potential and desire to succeed they can succeed. Everyone can do anything they want to do if they have what is takes to enter the university or job.
Though Affirmative Action is a current controversial issue, it is far from new; its decree has been long in the making. Perhaps it originates from amendments 13-15, the series of amendments that outlawed slavery, guaranteed equal protection under the law, and forbid racial discrimination when voting, respectively (Sykes 1). The Supreme Court’s decision in 1896, in the case of Plessy V. Ferguson, mandated separate but equal treatment for African Americans (Sykes 1). However, in 1954, the Supreme Court’s decision from Brown v. Board of Education replaced that of the Plessy v. Ferguson trial. President Lyndon Johnson was the first to use the term “Affirmative Action” in the Executive Order 11246 of 1965 (Sykes 1). This order
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
to go to the root of the problem. In this case, it has been inferior education. As Steele