Affirmative Action and Racial Tension

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Affirmative Action and Racial Tension Affirmative action. What was its purpose in the first place, and do we really need it now? It began in an era when minorities were greatly under represented in universities and respectable professions. Unless one was racist, most agreed with the need of affirmative action in college admissions and in the workplace. Society needed an active law that enforced equality during a period when civil rights bills were only effective in ink. With so much of America¹s work force spawned from integrated schools now, some may question whether racism really is the problem anymore, and many college students might answer yes. They see it on college campuses today, and they are not sure why. Subconscious prejudices, self-segregation, political correctness, reverse discrimination, and ignorance all wade in the pool of opinions surrounding affirmative action and racial animosity. With racial tensions ever present in this country, one might question whether the problems can be solved by affirmative action. Some feel that affirmative action in universities is the answer to the end of racism and inequality. If more black students get into and graduate from good colleges, more of them will go on to even out the lopsided numbers in the work force. Prejudice secretly slips through everyone¹s thoughts. Or so Barbara Ehrenreich believes when she writes of a quiet, subliminal prejudice that is caused by statistics that prove the fewer numbers of blacks in high profile jobs. When we see ninety percent of leadership roles in the corporate world held by white men, we begin to doubt other¹s competence in that field. With so many minorities in menial roles, people begin to believe the white man is best for ... ... middle of paper ... ...uys.² Time 13 March 1995:114. Irvine, Reed, and Joseph C Goulden. ³The ŒBlame Whitey¹ Media.² USA Today Magazine January 1994: 78+. Landes, Alison, et al. Minorities - A Changing Role in America. Wylie, Texas: Information Plus, 1994. 93-111. Martin, Anna. Student Survey. 30 October 1996. Page, Clarence. ³We, the Indigestibles: The Campus Culture Wars.² Showing my Color: Impolite Essays on Race and Identity. New York: HarperCollins, 1996. 257-282. Price, Hugh B. ³The Black Middle Class: Past, Present, Future.² The State of Black America 1995. Eds. Paulette J. Robinson, and Billy J. Tidwell. New York: National Urban League, 1995. 181-197. Zuckerman, Mortimer B. ³The Professoriate of Fear.² US News & World Report 29 July 1991: 64. ³Going, Going ...² National Review 29 July 1996: 12. ³Thumbs Down.² The Economist 30 March 1996: 30+.

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