Have one ever wondered what affirmative action is? Affirmative action is an action or policy favoring those who tend to suffer from discrimination. Affirmative action is a great concept and can be used in so many positive ways. This action offers a lot of resources such as: helping them fight to go to college, help financially, and promotes diversity. Those are just some of the few ideas this policy does, but that’s not all. To begin with, the affirmative action policy helps those, who are being discriminated, go to college or they offer scholarships. Negassi Tesfamichael, a college student planning to use this policy, states in an article that “people who are well off underscore… should dissolve the kind of race-based considerations” (Tesfamichael, par 5). Affirmative action is trying to help these students who can’t consider college, because of their complexion of their pigment. Many public and private schools allow students of all skin types. In paragraph 6, it states that these universites “seek diverse student bodies… lead to a better classroom experience.” …show more content…
Tesfamichael talks about in his article that Texas has a “Top 10 Percent Program, by guaranteeing admissiom to state-funded schools… helps many minority students from struggling schools gain admission to public colleges.” (Tesfamichael, par 6). These top ten students pick who they want to recruit in their program to help out with college. The first problne is that not many recruiters look for an itelligent American Americans, which really makes the id situation worse. One of the second problems is that “only 5 percent of African American high school students meeting all of the ACT college readiness benchmarks” (Tesfamichael, par 6). It has been factually proven that African Americans aren’t as ready for college as others. It’s very challenging trying to get into college with not a great academic
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
According to author Judith Boss “Affirmative action involves taking positive steps in job hiring and college admissions to correct certain past injustices against groups”. Affirmative Action is not only for people of color it is also for women. It is needed to achieve full gender equity in schools and the workplace. With that said one of the benefits of affirmative action is to make sure that schools and the workplace stays diverse, it’s to help create communities that are open-minded and expose people to different cultures that are different from their own. Having the ability to interact with other race and nationalities is a big part of the education process. It allows students and employees the ability to interact with people of the opposite
African- American males have been underrepresented among college students and degree earners for years, however the reason for this is often misconstrued. The percentages of white high school graduates “In 1998-2000 had jumped to 46. However, only 40 percent of African-Americans and 34 percent of Hispanics in the same age group were attending college” (McGlynn, Angela Proviteira). The question then to pose, is why minority students are not succeeding in college compared to Caucasian students, “Only 47% of Black male students graduated on time
In 2001 statistics reported by the United States Department of Education indicated that during 1997-1998 African American students received 8.3% of bachelor’s degrees awarded. Concurrently, Hispanic students as well as Asian or Pacific Islander students received 6.0%, while American Indian/Alaskan Native students only accounted for .7%. Although statistics from agencies who report differ, clearly on a national level, minority students
“Anyone interested in higher education should want to contemplate, on behalf of colleges and universities, students and faculty, alumni and paying parents, the fate of affirmative action(Chace, M William 20). The Oxford Dictionary states Affirmative Action is “an action or policy favoring those who tend to suffer from discrimination, especially in relation to employment or education; positive discrimination.” In 1961, John F. Kennedy signed an Executive Order calling for “affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin.” This is now known today as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission(EEOC). Affirmative action policies would later be forced upon businesses and have also been instituted at many universities where minorities are given preferred admissions over non-minorities. An Example of this would be at the University of Michigan where applicants who represented racial or ethnic minorities were given 20 points towards admission out of a 150 point system where only 100 points were needed to gain admission. Trying to put the 20 points in perspective, applicants with perfect SAT scores only received 12 points toward admission. This system was later struck down by the Supreme Court, but another similar policy was upheld at the University of Michigan Law School. With how diverse our society is currently compared to years ago, it seems to compliment that the policies have indeed worked. But now, the policies are questioned by many as whether or not they moral, constitutional, and/or...
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...
As cliché as it sounds, it is true that many African American students come from very harsh and poverty stricken environments. They tend to go to under resourced schools as well that do not provide the proper knowledge for them to further their education. And even worse, these schools tend to be segregated since they are usually in the harsher parts of a neighborhood. Sadly, it’s the segregated schools are one of the main reasons why black students decide not to go on to pursue a higher education. According to "The Way Out of the Black Poverty Cycle", a black student that attends an integrated suburban school is six times more likely to graduate compared to a segregated under resourced school. An African Americans family structure and the opinions of family members affects if their decision to further their education as well. Many African American children grow up un...
Today there is considerable disagreement in the country over Affirmative Action with the American people. MSNBC reported a record low in support for Affirmative Action with 45% in support and 45% opposing (Muller, 2013). The affirmative action programs have afforded all genders and races, exempting white males, a sense of optimism and an avenue to get the opportunities they normally would not be eligible for. This advantage includes admission in colleges or hiring preferences with public and private jobs; although Affirmative Action has never required quotas the government has initiated a benefits program for the schools and companies that elect to be diversified. The advantages that are received by the minorities’ only take into account skin color, gender, disability, etc., are what is recognized as discriminatory factors. What is viewed as racism to the majority is that there ar...
As previously stated, it appears there are persistant barriers present that hinder enrollment, retention, and rate of graduation for African Americans in higher education. It is imperative that educational concerns for African Americans are addressed at all levels, but it is particularly important at the post secondary stage. Higher levels of education are associated with both lower unemployment rates and a higher income. If...
White Privilege The belief that white privilege never existed or that it is no longer a problem is skewed by the selective use of facts to support this claim. How do we address this problem? We must define the what is to be privileged, acknowledge the problem and identify a means to fix it. "The idea of privilege- that some people benefit from unearned, and largely unacknowledged, advantages, even when those advantages aren't discriminatory. "
Affirmative action policies were created to help level the playing field in American society. Supporters claim that these plans eliminate economic and social disparities to minorities, yet in doing so, they’ve only created more inequalities. Whites and Asians in poverty receive little to none of the opportunities provided to minorities of the same economic background (Messerli). The burden of equity has been placed upon those who were not fortunate enough to meet a certain school’s idea of “diversity” (Andre, Velasquez, and Mazur). The sole reason for a college’s selectivity is to determine whether or not a student has the credentials to attend that school....
Affirmative action is used by many colleges to help some races and ethnic groups over others. For example, just being African American in most colleges can give you a boost to get scholarships, get accepted in the school, and many advantages. Throughout American history African Americans have been discriminated against, but now the colleges are using the affirmative action policy to cancel out discrimination by making rules to benefit them. Two main reasons for having race be a factor in college admissions are to help the African Americans that don’t have the same benefits that other races would and it would somehow make up for the past discrimination against African Americans. In contrary two reasons for having race not be a factor in college
The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. (2006).Black Student College Graduation Rates Remain Low, But Modest Progress Begins to Show. Retrieved from: http://www.jbhe.com/features/50_blackstudent_gradrates.html
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)
American history has its wrongs when they established slavery which that then led to ingraining institutionalize racism through Jim Crow laws and segregation. Even though those things happened in the past they are still implemented through the current wrongdoings of the War on Drugs and police brutality against black Americans, affirmative action has been put in place to compensate black Americans. In this essay, I will explain what preferential affirmative action is, the compensatory argument for preferential affirmative, the main moral principle that it relies on, and why the argument is ultimately successful. I will also consider objections and show why those arguments fail.