Affirmative Action

2866 Words6 Pages

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 eliminate the negative impact that it is causing. Affirmative Action is outdated because it is turning into a reverse discrimination policy.

Affirmative Action in the United States is a government program that tries to help overcome the effects of past societal discrimination by allocating jobs and resources to members of specific minority groups (The Columbia 1). The policy was set up to assist every single minority group, which includes women, minority races, handicapped people, and war veterans, especially those of the Vietnam War. Affirmative Action was set up to help these minority groups by giving them strategic advantages when those individuals apply for jobs and higher levels of education. In the Washington Post, it said that, "In its modern form, Affirmative Action can call for an admissions officer faced with two similarly qualified applicants to choose the minority over the white, or for a manager to recruit and hire a qualified woman for a job instead of a man" (Froom...

... middle of paper ...

...ot;Bush Takes Stand Against Affirmative Action." The America's Intelligence Wire 15 Jan. 2003: 1-2. General References Center Gold. Thompson Gale. Davenport University Library. Caro. 2 April 2003 <http://web7.infotrack.galegroup.com>.

"Regents of the University of California v. Bakke." The Columbia Encyclopedia 2000: 1-2. General References Center Gold. Thompson Gale. Davenport University Library. Caro. 2 April 2003 <http://web7.infotrack.galegroup.com>.

"University of California's Ban on Affirmative Action to be Investigated." Jet 4 Aug. 1997: 1-2. General References Center Gold. Thompson Gale. Davenport University Library. Caro. 2 April 2003 <http://web7.infotrack.galegroup.com>.

World Book Encyclopedia 1990: B33. Brown City High School Library. Brown City. 14 April 2003.

Hopwood Vs Texas
1474 Words | 3 Pages
Affirmative action, while a great idea in the beginning, is no longer needed to make up for the past discrimination of women and minorities. It does not get rid of discrimination, but rather creates it towards whites and men. Any form of discrimination is wrong, whether intentional or unintentional. Businesses and universities will set aside a separate pool for minorities and women so they don’t have to originally compete against the whole pool of applicants. A person’s qualifications and how they got to where they are should not be questioned because of affirmative action. The only reason some people are still questioned or considered undeserving is because affirmative action still takes place. Getting rid of affirmative action in universities and businesses will eliminate reverse discrimination and ensure that their qualifications, along with achievements, will not be questioned based on the skin color or gender of a
Read More
Affirmative Action
1139 Words | 3 Pages
majority, does not advance the cause of minorities in a meaningful way, and needs to be
Read More
Affirmative Action: A Cost-Benefit Analysis
1605 Words | 4 Pages
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...
Read More
Affirmative Action in College Admissions
1570 Words | 4 Pages
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...
Read More
Affirmative Action Should Not Be Continued
2185 Words | 5 Pages
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.
Read More
Affirmative Action v. Reverse Discrimination
987 Words | 2 Pages
Affirmative action in the U.S. started to come about in the early nineteen sixties. It was enacted along with many other anti-segregation laws, as part of the "Civil Rights act of 1964 and an executive order in 1965 (Affirmative, Encyclopedia Britannica par. 2)." Today affirmative action is still going strong. It has many positive aspects, but it also has several negative affects, one of which is "reverse discrimination.
Read More
Affirmative Action and Racial Equality
1480 Words | 3 Pages
Many individuals do not know the meaning of the term “affirmative action.” In order to clearly understand the issue, one must first know the necessary terms associated with it. Affirmative action is a term given to an action or policy favoring those who tend to suffer from discrimination (i.e. African Americans, Asians, etc.). For example, certain scholarships for African Americans can be regarded as affirmative action opportunities. Another example of affirmative action could be an institutional program designed for African Americans. So why is it important? Affirmative action policies and programs are designed to insure that qualified individuals of minority groups have equal access to programs and are “to par” with other individuals of the same merit. Please note that I said qualified and of the same merit. Affirmative action does not place individuals in minority groups at an advantage. This is a common misconception by some people. Affirmative action can be seen in the college admission process, the promotion process for higher-level positions, and in other various areas. The goal is to
Read More
Affirmative Action
1086 Words | 3 Pages
After you graduate from college, you will be putting in your application for a job that you went to college for. Even though you might be the most qualified for the job you still might not obtain the position. Affirmative Action sometimes causes this because companies have to hire a certain number of minorities relative to the size of the company. This means that if there are no minority citizens available, immigrants who aren’t even US citizens can take the position. This is why Affirmative Action should be readjusted, because it is helping immigrants instead of the people it was meant for, American citizens.
Read More
Affirmative Action
1127 Words | 3 Pages
Affirmative Action Affirmative action can be defined as action taken to compensate for past unfairness in the education of minorities. The current system of affirmative action allows universities to admit applicants from certain ethnic and minority groups with lower credentials. The main purpose of affirmative action is to produce a diverse campus population that is comparable to today's society. The use of race as a facto by which someone is admitted to college in the long run will compromise the quality of the university. Implicating affirmative action to solve the problem of diversity on today's campuses has lead to the creation of problems.
Read More
Affirmative Action
944 Words | 2 Pages
Affirmative action is an effort to develop a systematic way of opening doors of education, employment and business opportunities to qualified individuals. Programs about reaching out to affirmative action are built on the American dream that there is enough education, employment and respect for everyone in this country. The programs are not about reverse discrimination or hiring unqualified applicants (Colonnese 197).
Read More
Affirmative Action Case Summary
298 Words | 1 Pages
Affirmative Action was created in 1961, under the executive order 10925. This is an action or policy which provides aid for those who suffer from discrimination in regards to education or employment. Affirmative Action was created for the sole purpose of helping those who apply for school or work and are not accepted because of their race. In comparison to then, can you tell yourself that Affirmative Action is still truly needed today? If your answer was yes, then here’s why.
Read More
Affirmative Action - Is it Fair?
759 Words | 2 Pages
Affirmative action in theory and in thought is intended to promote the welfare of this country’s minorities by supporting the idea that individuals are equal and should not be judged by race or sex. 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 advantage they have never been open too All things considered, this does not happen. Instead, “quotas” are established and the discrimination that was once placed on the minorities now turns the other way. Let’s make up a hypothetical situation. You are sending in your first college application to Harvard. There is only one spot left open between you and someone who is black. You have slightly better grades, both of you excelled in sports, you have more volunteer hours, and completed 2 foreign languages where he only has one. Applying affirmative action, you would not get the last position because of the need for ethnic diversity in the college atmosphere. Is that fair??? Is that right?? You clearly had a better dossier then him.
Read More
The Injustice of Affirmative Action
807 Words | 2 Pages
According to Reshetnivov, affirmative action is the means of considering underrepresented characteristics, such as race, sex, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, to determine admission into a university (Reshetnivov). Affirmative action policies were instituted not only to ensure diversity, but to right the wrong of decades of discrimination and to help minorities by giving them extra opportunities (Messerli). The policies were created after the Civil War when slavery was finally abolished. The term was first mentioned by President Kenne...
Read More
Case Study of Affirmative Action
723 Words | 2 Pages
Our book defines affirmative action as a term that refers to programs designed to ensure that women, minorities, and other traditionally disadvantaged groups have full and equal opportunities in employment, education, and other areas of life. Affirmative action was implemented to reduce discrimination practices based on race, gender and ethnic background. Most Americans feel that there is a need for affirmative action, but there are also those Americans that feel that it will discriminate against white males and those best qualified for a particular job, school or other area of interest. One advantage of affirmative action is that it helps those groups or persons that are at a disadvantage due to race, gender or ethnic background have a fair chance when applying for a job or admission to a university or college. Using a quota or preference system ensures that there will be minorities hired in the workplace, including management positions and admissions to universities or colleges.
Read More
The Pros and Cons of Affirmative Action
3452 Words | 7 Pages
Affirmative action or positive discrimination can be defined as providing advantages for people of a minority group who are seen to have traditionally been discriminated against. This consists of preferential access to education, employment, health care, or social welfare. In employment, affirmative action may also be known as employment equity. Affirmative action requires that institutions increase hiring and promotion of candidates of mandated groups. (Rubenfeld, 1997, p. 429)
Read More

Open Document

Wait a second!

Affirmative Action

Hopwood Vs Texas