Essay on Affirmative Action

Affirmative action is a government policy that gives opportunities to minorities, women, and any group who has been the victim of discrimination in the past. Affirmative action is the outcome of the 1960’s Civil Rights movement, growing out of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which outlawed discrimination based on race, ethnicity, or gender. It was the 1978 Supreme Court decision, The Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, which allowed for the use of race-based preferences as a means of

One of the largest arguments that opponents of Affirmative Action use today is the mere fact that the United States has an African American president. They claim that since Barack Obama has risen to the highest office of the nation, that racism no longer exists and therefore we do not need to afford special treatment to minorities. They often ask, if one man can do it, why can’t the others? Obama himself seems to be color blind. In his 2006 book, The Audacity of Hope, Obama states that poor blacks

utilization of affirmative action and quotas it’s a very controversial issue, because certain people interpreted as being unjust (Sandel, 2007, pp.237). Furthermore, a quota is a number or percentage that is provided in order to meet the affirmative action (Quota, n.d.). On the other hand, affirmative action is the act of enhancing education and employment opportunities for minorities or people that in the past were treated unequal (Affirmative Action, n.d.). Moreover, the use of affirmative action has become

due to their environment and lack of funds. Affirmative Action gives hope to young students of these backgrounds, to allow them a chance to achieve higher education. Although Affirmative Action has helped many people from low-income backgrounds succeed in the United States, some Americans are petitioning for its repeal. A current Supreme Court case that endangers Affirmative Action is Fisher v. University of Texas. This case questions if Affirmative Action is unconstitutional. The United States Supreme

Affirmative Action: Then vs. Now 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 words "affirmative action" were first recorded

with these five pillars, there are accompanying patterns of interactions. Not only did we discuss that, but we dived into discrimination and discussed institutional discrimination specifically. One of the final major points we discussed was affirmative action, and I will go into detail on that and whether or not I think it has worked in the United States a little later on. First off, let’s talk about Graves’ five pillars of racist thoughts. Grave’s first pillar was that “biological races exist

Affirmative Action is the name given to programs that try to correct past and ongoing discriminations against women, racial minorities, and others in the work force and in education. The principal goal of Affirmative Action is to create more diversity and equal opportunities in jobs or schools that used to be all or mostly male, white, or both. Affirmative Action programs have been in place only a little over thirty years. Affirmative action works. There are thousands of examples of situations where

as affirmative action debate heats up; After a leaked Justice Department document, tensions roil over the use of race at top universities such as Harvard. But many other selective schools may be quietly shifting away from the practice,” top colleges uphold the same commitment to create diversity and using race in admission to accomplish it instead of merit or income. Nonetheless, Department of Justice spokeswomen, Sarah Isgur Flores, is willing to investigate the effects of affirmative action, "The

I can see the use of affirmative action in the past after segregation ended but minority students had poor education due to underfunded and understaffed schools, however nowadays all schools are integrated so black students have just as much opportunity as any other race (without

“Was I Entitled or Should I Apologize? Affirmative Action Going Forward” by Anita Allen and “Affirmative Action as a Majoritarian Device: Or, Do You Really Want to be a Role Model?” By Richard Delgado, the themes of personal integrity, guilt, and the lack of white America’s consciousness is discussed in relation to affirmative action. Although both articles are written by minorities and hit on the negative effects that those benefitting from affirmative action deal with, Allen strongly supports the