Racism, a morally wrong idea that has been combated in numerous ways by many first world governments. When observing the laws used to combat it, one must observe the consequences of such actions. Even though these laws have no intent to harm a “socioeconomic disadvantaged class,” they may discriminate against a different socioeconomic class. One of these laws, or programs, is the Affirmative Action Program, put into effect when “President John F. Kennedy signed an executive order to unite the workforces on projects without regard to race, creed, color or national origin” (Finkelman, 2004). Many people argue, that it is not necessary in this modern era, and that it only causes harm. Affirmative Action can lead to cases of reverse racism because it focuses on the color of an individual instead of skill sets, it takes jobs away from majorities with higher qualification and it harms the minorities it is attempting to help.
Affirmative action is an example of reverse racism it focuses on the color of an individual instead of skill sets. Affirmative Action is described as “ a cogent description of reverse racism” (Fish 128) . What is affirmative action? Stanley Fish, an American literary theorist, says “once racism and sexism were recognized as immoral...we had to decide what to do about it” (128). Racism was a legitimate problem in America ever since the beginning of the slave trade. After numerous lynching incidents and evident discriminatory actions in the workplace, the United States government has decided that action needs to be taken. As mentioned above, in 1961, the first action was taken to address this issue. Up until then there were still laws preventing racial minorities from getting certain jobs (Robinson 2003), these laws...
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Affirmative action is a label for a large range of programs, but all of these methods began for one reason: as a way to fight racism. There were voluntary efforts and mandatory laws enacted in order to accomplish this feat (Wu par 6). It was begun under President Johnson with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and was followed by his Executive Order 11246, both of which emphasized the fair treatment and employment of minorities. Two years later, women were added to the list. Today affirmative action benefits women, racial and ethnic groups, and the physically, mentally or emotionally disabled to the detriment of white males (“affirmative action” par 1). Due to affirmative action’s efforts, doors have been opened allowing for the equalizing of opportunity in the United States, seen in the types of people working in places such as police and fire departments, as w...
Web. 29 Mar. 2014. King, C. Richard. "Looking Back To A Future End: Reflections On The Symposium On Racist
Affirmative Action is the policies that have been introduced to provide equal opportunities to people who have been historically excluded. The action is implemented by providing equal access to education, salary, employment and respect to the group such as women and minorities. The policies were introduced in 1960’s during the civil rights movement in the belief of providing equal rights to the group that has been ruled out by the society. In 1961 President Kennedy was the first to use the term “Affirmative Action” to make sure that all employees are treated in the same manner without discriminating them with their race, color, and national origin. The main reason to establish affirmative action is to increase the employment opportunities and
Affirmative action started in the 1960’s as a way to end discrimination against African American and later all minorities - including women. By migrating people of all color into workplaces and colleges/universities seemed to be the suitable solution to diversify our nation. Although blacks had been freed for a 100 years, they continually struggled with segregation. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned the segregation of all sort in the United States, however that was not enough. Congress mandated the affirmative action program as a plan of desegregation. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy made reference to this plan, but it was not until September 1965 that it was enforced by President Lyndon Johnson. The program affected federal jobs, to include federal contracting company, and universities. In order to receive federal funding, each entity had to hire and enroll minorities. Affirmative action was a good jump start to get our nation to where it is today. However, affirmative action should not be continued because it is a form of discrimination, it is more harmful than helpful, and it supplements race or gender for one’s qualification.
Affirmative action creates reverse discrimination upon the opposite races. Ever since the civil war of the 1860s and the civil rights movement of the 1960s in which minorities in The United States of America, who majority are composed of African Americans and Women who were refused the opportunity’s to use public services such as public schools and certain Employment opportunities like promotions. The government of the United States has tried to restore equality and balance the society of this country by passing certain policies that would make those who were denied certain opportunities in the past bad times so they would not be left behind in struggle and failure. Affirmative Action was one of these policies. It was first used by President John F. Kennedy In his effort to restore equality of the country...
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Question at Issue Affirmative action was implemented with the idea and hope that America would finally become truly equal. The tension of the 1960's civil rights movement had made it very clear, that the nation's minority and female population were not receiving equal social and economic opportunity. The implementation of affirmative action was America's first honest attempt at solving a problem, it had previously chose to ignore. However, there are many people that don't see affirmative action as a positive solution to this major societal problem of racial inequality. These people feel that Affirmative action uses reverse discrimination to solve the problem of discrimination in the workplace. The Enthymeme Affirmative action uses reverse discrimination to solve the problem of discrimination because Affirmative action makes employers have to choose from the best available employee from the minorities, instead of having the possibility to choose simply the best employee. A= Affirmative action v1= uses B= reverse discrimination to solve the problem of discrimination Because A= Affirmative action v2= makes C= employers have to choose from the best available employee from the minorities, instead of having the possibility to choose the best available employee. Assumption: Anything that makes employers have to choose from the best available employee from the minorities, instead of having to simply choosing the best available employee uses reverse discrimination to solve the problem of discrimination. Assumption and Audience The assumption for this paper will appeal to employees who do not qualify for Affirmative action, as well as employers and minorities. Employees not qualifying for...
The roots of affirmative action may be traced back to the early 1960’s, during the Civil Rights Movement. It was in 1961 that President John F. Kennedy issued an Executive Order that first introduced affirmative action. This order included an establishment that government contractors “take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and employees are treated fairly during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin.” (University of California Irvine) Over the years, there have been many adjustments to affirmative action, but they all reiterated the same general idea. This idea is that there would be equal opportunity for all qualified persons, and to take positive actions in order to ensure there would be equal opportunity for all. (University of California Irvine) Affirmative action has been successful, it has increased the number of recruiting and screening practices by employers, raised employers’ inclination to hire denounced applicants, increased the number of minority or female applicants and employees, and it increased the likelihood that employers will provide training and evaluate the...
Whitehead, John. "OpEdNews Article: The Myth of a Post-Racial America." OpEdNews, 2013. Web. 30 Jan 2014. .
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 programs. In 1965, Lyndon Johnson signed an executive order requiring government contractors to diversify its staff by hiring more members of the minorities. President Nixon implemented a system in which the government could monitor the progress being made by businesses in hiring minorities. Eventually, high level educational institutions would also see the need for Affirmative Action and the benefits of a diverse student body. Affirmative Action was designed to overcome the issue of discrimination in education and the workplace by giving less fortunate members of the minority an opportunity to level the playing field and achieve success similar to that of their counterparts in the majority. Affirmative Action programs, which encourage the inclusion of minorities in education and at all levels in the workplace, are vital in the effort to eradicate discrimination and provide equal opportunity.
Bedrick, David. "America's Deadly Denial of Racism" The Huffington Post. 10 April 2015. Web 29 April 2015
According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, affirmative action is “an active effort to improve employment or educational opportunities for members of minority groups and women.” However, despite its well-intentioned policies, it has been the source of much controversy over the years. Barbara Scott and Mary Ann Schwartz mention that “proponents of affirmative action argue that given that racism and discrimination are systemic problems, their solutions require institutional remedies such as those offered by affirmative action legislation” (298). Also, even though racism is no longer direct, indirect forms still exist in society and affirmative action helps direct. On the other hand, opponents to affirm...
Considering the subject of affirmative action the following questions frequently are raised: Is there a clear understanding of affirmative action roles/goals? What are the pros/cons of these programs? What are the "loop holes" in the system? Does seniority play a role in affirmative action? Addressing these key questions may help us all in our daily routine, as administrators and/or potential administrator in the public/private sector. Affirmative action programs throughout the United States have long been a controversial issue particularly concerning employment practices (public/private) and university student and/or staff recruitment. Most public agencies have some type of instituted affirmative action program. According to Cheryl Perry-League, Director of Equal Opportunity of the Port of Oakland, every business operating on Port of Oakland owned land must have a standing affirmative action program on record and businesses bidding to do work for the Port of Oakland must have an acceptably diverse workforce. BACKGROUND To understand the role and/or goals of affirmative actions programs we should define what the broad definition of what affirmative action is and what caused its development. The phase "affirmative action" was used in a racial discrimination context. Executive Order No. 10,925 issued by President John F. Kennedy in 1961. The order indicated that federal contractors should take affirmative action to ensure job applicants and employees are treated "without regard to their race, creed, or national origin." A person could define this statement as an order to imply equal access and nothing else. Subsequently, Executive Order 11246 issued by President Johnson in September 1965, "mandated affirmative action goals for all federally funded programs and moved monitoring and enforcement of affirmative action programs out of the White House and into the Labor Department." Affirmative action "refers to various efforts to deliberately take race, sex, and national origins into account to remedy past and current effects of discrimination. Its primary goal is to ensure that women and minorities are widely represented in all occupations and at all organizational levels" (Tompkins, 1995, p.161). Another definition of affirmative action according to Barbara Bergmann is "planning and acting to end the absence of certain kinds of people-those who belong to groups that have been subordinated or left out-from certain jobs and schools" (1997 p.7). Tracing the history of affirmative action, laws against racial discrimination have proved inadequate for workplace integration because they often provide remedies only after the fact.