Affirmative Action Pros And Cons

In the years following the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s, the United States has struggled with balancing race relations. Affirmative action was implemented in order to combat racism in academic and work environments. Definitively, affirmative action is “the practice of improving the educational and job opportunities of members of groups that have not been treated fairly in the past because of their race, sex, etc,” (Merriam Webster). Overwhelmingly, affirmative action creates diversity in education and neutralizes racial advantages. That being said, opponents of affirmative action believe it creates less qualified society all the while advocating for reverse discrimination. These individuals may argue

The most visible benefit of affirmative action is the diversification of the academic setting. With the constant innovation of technology the world is becoming increasingly globally connected. The world is a global market place that students must prepare for. The education system must reflect this transition. With the implementation of affirmative action policies, minority representation becomes more consistent with the demographics of the country. In the case presentation of Grutter vs. Bollinger: Taking Race into Account, former Associate Justice, Sandra Day O’Conner said, ““These benefits are not theoretical but real, as major American businesses have made clear that the skills needed in today’s increasingly global marketplace can only be developed through exposure to widely diverse people, cultures, ideas, and viewpoints” (438). Without such exposure the American society is literally whitewashed and will have a genuine disadvantage in cultural awareness. One cannot

Because racism has been so prominent throughout the history of American civilization, the resulting effects from that have left certain populations worse off than others. Affirmative action is one way to combat this previous discrimination by giving preference to those populations. James Rachels speaks on this in his publication, “What People Deserve”. In reference to the fairness of affirmative action and the actual neutralization of advantages Rachels goes through an example where a black student is admitted to a prestigious university over a white student with a slightly higher test score. Rachels comes to two conclusions in this example: one where the scenario successfully neutralizes the racial advantage and the other which could be construed as reverse discrimination. In the effective neutralization situation the two students have equal intelligence and work ethic, but the black student is faced with obstacles that his white competitor does not face; for example, lack of resources and underqualified educators. In this instance “[w]hat is important is that as a result of past discriminatory practices, he has been unfairly handicapped in trying to achieve the sort of academic standing required for admission. If he has a claim to “preferential” treatment now, it is for that reason” (635). Previous racism and discrimination prevents current progress, so potentially exceptional