The Issue 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

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 is any effort taken to expand opportunity for women or racial, ethnic and national origin minorities by using membership in those groups that have been subject to discrimination as a consideration. The Fourteenth Amendment states that no person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance. As a result, Affirmative action is not consistent with the Fourteenth Amendment. In this essay, I will first discuss the violation of Affirmative Action against the Fourteenth Amendment. Second, how Affirmative Action helps one group of

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

There are two recent lawsuits from 2003 that brought to the forefront college admissions using race; these include Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger (Bowman, 2013). Both cases involve the University of Michigan. In Grutter v. Bollinger, the court sided with the university stating that their admissions office can continue to use race-based initiatives in fostering an education benefit to the students (Bowman, 2013).

     Affirmative action is a social policy created to promote the welfare of minorities by supporting the idea that individuals are all created equal and should not be judged by race or gender. Therefore, in situations like job and university applications, we should consider minorities to be as feasible a choice for hire as a white male candidate, taking into consideration their background. In short, it tries to give minorities that have been at a disadvantage their whole life, an opportunity to ‘equal the playing field’ by providing a broader context by which to measure an applicant or prospective employee. In the end, however, this goal is not realized. Instead, superficial ‘quotas’ are established and the

Affirmative action is a practice that is intended to promote opportunities for the “protected class” which includes minorities, woman, and people with disabilities or any disadvantaged group for that matter. With affirmative action in place people of this protected class are given an even playing field in terms of hiring, promotion, as well as compensation. Historically, affirmative action is only known to have protected African Americans and woman; however that is not the case. Affirmative action protects a variety of people and without this statute many people included in this protected class would be unfairly discriminated against.

A reflection on the society depicts the fact that it is composed of individuals with varying differences aligned with gender, race, socio-economic status, and education levels. While it is true that all people should be equal irrespective of these factors, there is a need to note that there exist a persistent discrimination of various people. Affirmative action has often been poised as the most comprehensive means through which equality can be attained. While much has been hypothesized regarding affirmative action, it is of the essence to note that it mainly connotes to actions and policies that are intended to ensure equality for all people regardless of the differences they exhibit (Bridges 73). Affirmative action is established with the sole intent of assuring equal opportunities for all. From this analysis, it can be deduced that the scope of affirmative action is to assure equality between minority and majority groups.

Affirmative Action was originally established by former President John F. Kennedy on March 6, 1961 in his executive order, which included a provision that mandated federally funded projects to take “affirmative action” to ensure that hiring and employment were free of racial bias (#4). Over the years, colleges and universities began to adopt similar policies in their admissions process (#2). The purpose of affirmative action is to provide an equal ground for women and people of color in the workforce and educational institutions (#4). There are many debates and myths about affirmative action, some of which will be unraveled later in this paper. This policy does not mean it benefits unqualified minorities, but rather highlights qualified and over-qualified minorities to be considered by otherwise predominantly white institutions (#4). Affirmative action is supposed to aid the nation in establishing equal opportunity for all. In my opinion, affirmative action has a moral and just purpose and I will be using Martin Luther King Jr., Mill, and Foucault to support my argument.

Affirmative Action was implemented as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 authorized under President Lyndon B. Johnson’s executive order 11246, and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The quota based system was enacted to close the gap between white male privilege and all ethnic minority groups to include women, homosexuals, the disabled as well as the elderly in attempt to rid professional institutions like businesses and universities of prejudice discrimination. In its 50 year history, much debate remains on whether the success of the program has actually aided in breaking down barriers or simply created a reverse discrimination paradox that disparages white males. As a result of this controversial

With contracting,, "affirmative action helps firms owned  by women and minorities, or firms that can show a disadvantage"(Lemann, 110) Affirmative action in education also reaches out to disabled students, women, minorities, economically disadvantaged students, veterans, etc.  It helps them in many ways like: " early outreach programs, recruitment and retention programs, efforts in admissions to diversify the student population, and specific financial aid opportunities."(Edwards, 213)

On January 16th of this year, I picked up the Washington Post and read an article by Richard Cohen that weakly criticized the lack of ethnic diversity in President Bush's new cabinet. The article was an interesting analysis of the ethnicity of Bush's cabinet, but it is even more significant as it dealt with an issue that is becoming of greater concern in this country: affirmative action. This issue has affected me in the past. I live in Northern Virginia, which is a very race-neutral area, and last year during my college application process was the first time in my life when affirmative action affected me. The applications say the race checkbox is only being used for statistical purposes, but when

Affirmative action is a policy implemented into programs to provide equal admissions in school institutions and office for those under-represented in America. Affirmative action is an issue because some people believe it is an unfair policy, while others believe that it is one of the ways they can represent themselves in organizations/institutions. Because of historical events that has occurred, a race-conscious policy that creates open doors for those who were oppressed is one of the ways to make progress. Through this paper, the readers will be able to see why affirmative action is justified through premises addressing past injustices, what opposers view against the argument and how those opposer are wrong about their assumptions and a conclusion.

Affirmative Action is a policy in the United States of America. It is in use to help minorities get equal treatment in admissions policies for big businesses and higher educational programs. In one way or another, this policy affects almost every person in America. It affects people directly, and most commonly, indirectly. When this policy affects people, it usually affects them in a negative way. When Affirmative Action first started, it was a descent policy, but with changes in society, it has become a policy that does more harm than good. Since this is what the policy currently does, Affirmative Action should be out of use for every application it has a function for. So, this policy should be out of every law book in America to

Affirmative action has been a controversial matter in education for various reasons. Those who oppose affirmative action, often refer to it as “reverse discrimination.” Whites feel as if affirmative action makes society unjust for whites. They argue that being white will impair you from succeeding in life with affirmative action in place. I find this Ludacris, for centuries minorities have been oppressed and not able to succeed in life. Affirmative action only even’s the playing field to allow the minority group to have a chance at a well off life. In the case The University of Texas vs. Fisher; Abigail Fisher felt as if being white affected her admission process and that minorities took more “worthy” and “qualified” persons’ spots, due to