The History of Affirmative Action

There are many supporters and opponents of Affirmative Action. The focus of Affirmative action is meant to be an attempt at equality throughout society. Every sector in America would be equal and unprejudiced. On the other hand, adopting affirmative action would force many employers to replace hard-working employees with those possibly less qualified simply due to their gender or ethnicity. Throughout history, people have been categorized into different groups. These groupings were based on certain characteristics people shared, whether it was their ethnicity, race, gender, or religion. Society is notorious for distinguishing among different groups and favoring one or two of them. Undoubtedly, this separation of peoples, led to increased tension between various groups. As time progressed, the conflicts intensified, and it became apparent that a change was necessary. So I intend to educate the reader on the origin of Affirmative Action; how it impacted the American society; is it still needed in today’s environment; what are some of the drawbacks or issues that came from implementing Affirmative Action, and finally what is the most beneficial aspect from Affirmative Action. One of the most famous quotes about Affirmative Action comes from President Lyndon Johnson who explained the rationale behind the use of affirmative action to achieve equal opportunity in a 1965 speech: “You do not take a person, who for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring

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.

Generations of families have suffered due unequal laws or prejudices set in place to prevent minorities from growing. Slavery, segregation, separate but equal laws, the trail of tears, failing ESOL classes, unequal pay and so much more effect today's youth and causing history to change slowly if at all. Affirmative action has good intentions and is very much needed in today's world however it sometimes fails doing what it was created to do.

Affirmative action legislation in the United States has its basic framework in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which mandates that firms with more than 15 employees are subject to a variety of anti-discrimination policies, more of which were passed in subsequent years. In some cases, the concept of affirmative action was taken to be a voluntary act to attain diversity. For the most part, however, courts have interpreted affirmative action laws as having little teeth under the Constitution. It has been suggested that "racial preferences in federal law or policy are a remedy of last resort" (Dale, 2005)

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

Affirmative action has been around for decades. Some believe it isn’t fair but others do. Those who believe and agree with affirmative action tend to say, “The principle of affirmative action is to promote societal equality through the preferential treatment of socioeconomically disadvantaged people” (Bidmead, Andrew pg 3). Others that disagree with it and find it unfair simply see it as another form of discrimination, giving one group extra advantages based upon nothing but their skin color (Cline, Austin pg 1). I believe that affirmative action is indeed fair because it gives minorities a better chance at having a successful career in their near future.

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.

Race-based affirmative action has been challenged by a great deal of objection during the course of it duration. According to its opponents, Affirmative action proves to be inconsistent. Affirmative action based on race increases race consciousness instead of supporting color-blind justice. By giving people special consideration to ensure equality, it contributes to inequality. The constitution of the United States calls for equal treatment, therefore, allowing racial consideration poses a contradiction.

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”).

In the 1960s when minorities and whites were equal according to the constitution but unequal in reality, a program was needed to level the playing field. Thus the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was created and prohibited discrimination. It marked the beginning of a debate that has been going on for nearly a half of a century. Affirmative action needs to be reevaluated in educational settings in light of current needs.

The US is a melting pot with various groups of immigration such as: Asian American, Jewish American, African American, and Mexican Ame. Minority groups have experienced many kinds of segregation. They are discriminated in education and employment. Then, a program called “Affirmative Action” was introduced with the hope to engage more people of color into the society.

Affirmative Action was one of the major solution of the 1960's Civil Rights Movement, intended to provide all equal situations and opportunities to the people of minorities groups in education and employment. According to President Kennedy, he decided to use the term "Affirmative Action" in an Executive Order that directed the government contractors to hire all kinds of people and make sure that employees are treated fairly during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin. It was created to help those races who have been historically suffering under segregation to get representation in society and to balance the income disparity. It has been the special tool box that the government uses to accelerate the progress

Many colleges in United States are composed of an ethnically diverse student body. One of the reasons why the student body is full of diversity is because of the Affirmative Action. It is the policy that gives a special incentives to minorities and women to help promote diversity in school. Though it is a great idea to promote diversity in every college in United States, it is also a bad idea to continue this system. Many “A” students who are not minorities tend to get the same treatment as the “B” students who are minorities. Although accepted into school, these students who barely met the minimum criteria may have a tougher time at school because they may not be able to keep up with the pace of the classes since the schools have high expectations of its students. Furthermore, students who have worked hard to get good grades might be overlooked because the students who have lower grades will be accepted simply to fulfill the quota. Although promoting affirmative action is a great idea to seek diversity through different views from many different ethnicities, it will also take away people’s hard work, as well as producing more drop out students since they cannot keep up with what the university is expecting from them. Therefore, it is not morally justifiable or socially beneficial for the students since they may have a lower chance of succeeding at school.

In the1960's Civil Rights Movement began this then resulted in Affirmative action. Affirmative action was built to help member of minority groups and women gain equal opportunities in education and employment. In 1961 Executive Order was given by President Kennedy to direct government contractors to take affirmative action in order to guarantee applicants were employed,

The idea of Affirmative action was first brought up by JFK to ensure equality in employment for all people regardless of their race, creed, color, or national origin. However, Many institutions such as college took advantage of “equality” as an excuse to admit students based on their race rather than their merits. AB 1726, also known as the Accounting for Health and Education in API Demographics (AHEAD) Act, was first proposed by California Assemblyman Rob Bonta (California Legislative Information). It is a data disaggregation bill that intends to help better address the disparity in public health and education among API(Asian Pacific Islander)group by adding additional major Asian groups, including Bangladeshi, Hmong, Indonesian,