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Significance of affirmative action
The debate on affirmative action
Nature of affirmative action
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Affirmative action is defined as the as action or policy favouring those who tend to suffer from discrimination, especially in relation to employment or education; positive discrimination. This is a significant issue, that will be affecting most if not all working Canadians. Jobs could either be given to candidates to create more diversity or given to those who are potentially more qualified, but already represent the majority of the workforce. On one end of the debate, the conservative government, is against affirmative action, because they believe only qualifications should be taken in consideration when hiring. While, the Liberal government would like to have more minorities be represented in the workforce. Within one year, there has
Affirmative Action Question: Newton and Wasserstrom seem to disagree about whether affirmative action is a form of reverse discrimination. Explain how each arrives at their position about whether or not affirmative action is similar to or different from discriminatory laws of the Jim Crow era
Affirmative action works by determining what percentage of qualified women and minorities are available to a company, and then setting a goal for hiring that percentage. For example, suppose a minority makes up 30 percent of the local population, but only 15 percent are qualified for the company's jobs. The goal for the company is 15 percent, not 30 percent. A...
majority, does not advance the cause of minorities in a meaningful way, and needs to be
Affirmative action refers to policies established to benefit the under-represented minorities in the fields of education, employment and culture. This is meant to avert the historical discrimination on the basis of religion, color, national origin or sex during hiring process. Implementation of these policies may encompass preferential selection in the job market. This results in mixed reactions and opinions from the public generating a lot of controversies.
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...
Affirmative action is a much debated topic based on the efforts of our government to overcome prejudicial treatment through inclusion. Affirmative action is a way of helping minorities in our country get jobs and avoid racial injustice. Many large companies have increased their employment of minorities after adopting these policies (Plous).
The three named plaintiffs and the class of rejected applicants they represent seek primarily injunctive relief to ensure that future applicants will be judged as individuals without regard to race. It is unfair to be judged by the color of your skin… NO MATTER WHAT COLOR YOU ARE!!! WHITE IS A COLOR TOO
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...
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.
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).
Affirmative action is a plan to offset past discrimination in employing and educating women, blacks, and other minorities. It is the government's way of apologizing to ethnic groups for the injustices they have suffered. Affirmative action is supposed to preserve liberty and to improve race relations, but it is actually worsening them. It is not helping poor blacks; it is primarily helping well-to-do blacks. More effective programs should be implemented to take the place of affirmative action.
Affirmative action was created to assist minority groups against discrimination, but affirmative action does more harm than what it can do to help. Affirmative action was created with the intention of leveling the playing field so that everyone can have an equal opportunity to be hired or accepted in to a school, but it does the opposite of what it is meant to do. Affirmative action is reverse discrimination against white males, lesser qualified people are admitted into jobs and colleges, and not all people have an equal opportunity to advance.
"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (6). Dr. King stated this in his famous “I have a Dream" speech in Washington, D.C. in 1963. Is affirmative action still needed in America? Affirmative action is still needed because America does not have enough equality and diversity. Almost all of our American history dealt with inequality between the white men and the black men. As time went on, nothing has changed and is still seen in today’s society. There are two definitions of affirmative action: 1) race-neutral, gender-neutral assurance against actual discrimination and 2) racial-preferences and gender-preferences for the correct races and genders (3). Most Americans associate affirmative action with the second definition, causing much controversy. However, the true and intended meaning of affirmative action is the first one. Affirmative action is essential in America because Americans do not have sufficient diversity and equality in our society.
Though Affirmative Action is a current controversial issue, it is far from new; its decree has been long in the making. Perhaps it originates from amendments 13-15, the series of amendments that outlawed slavery, guaranteed equal protection under the law, and forbid racial discrimination when voting, respectively (Sykes 1). The Supreme Court’s decision in 1896, in the case of Plessy V. Ferguson, mandated separate but equal treatment for African Americans (Sykes 1). However, in 1954, the Supreme Court’s decision from Brown v. Board of Education replaced that of the Plessy v. Ferguson trial. President Lyndon Johnson was the first to use the term “Affirmative Action” in the Executive Order 11246 of 1965 (Sykes 1). This order required federal contractors to use affirmative action to make sure people were treated equally, “without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin” (Cahn 1). Two years later, Johnson amended it to include women (Cahn 1). By 1971, President Nixon issued a Revised Order No. 4 that required contractors to adopt an “acceptable affirmative action program” (Cahn 1). Over the past three decades, many debates continue as to whether or not affirmative action still belongs in America.
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)