Affirmative Action

Though it directly uses race and discrimination in order to preference or discard a certain kind of individual, it prevails in giving opportunity to minorities to better themselves. McClain said it well by citing that even though schools or work places may be desegregated, it is not surely synonymous with equal educational opportunity (McClain 191). Due to the fact that some individuals—especially minorities and women—face social stigmatic stereotypes as well as limitations in access to life-bettering opportunities due to coming up in a

The proponents of affirmative action argue that because of past injustices, minorities deserve special privileges. The critics of affirmative action emphasize that minorities should earn their status and not receive special entitlements. In my opinion, affirmative action is a policy that unjustifiably discriminates against the majority, does not advance the cause of minorities in a meaningful way, and needs to be eliminated or in the alternative, experience a massive restructuring. "Affirmative Action: The Price of Preference", maintains that affirmative action has not achieved its goals, and that in some areas, it has even backfired. Steele acknowledges that blacks were wrongly persecuted, but stresses that as a result of affirmative action, "blacks now stand to lose more than they gain."

Affirmative action is an attempt by the United States to amend a long history of racial and sexual discrimination. But these days it seems to incite, not ease, the nations internal divisions. Opponents of affirmative action say that the battle for equal rights is over, and that requiring quotas that favor one group over another is un-American. The people that defend it say that the playing field is not level, and that providing advantages for minorities and women is fair considering the discrimination those groups tolerated for years. This paper will discuss the history of affirmative action, how it is implemented in society today, and evaluate the arguments that it presents.

A dedicated person who worked hard his or her whole life could lose a position to a minority that slipped into the position undeservingly. The whole purpose of affirmative action was to eliminate favoritism; instead it shifts favoritism to the other side. Favoritism of this sort does nothing but imply that minorities need special treatment to succeed in life. Highly merited minorities (past professors) have told me personally that minorities do not need special treatment; they need equal treatment. They (past professors) told me that affirmative action implies that all minorities are inferior to whites and that minorities need to be treated with special care just to have a chance to become successful.

Like myself, many other African Americans believe this policy is one the most effective strategies for helping underrepresented minority groups gain access to education and employment. However, critics of affirmative action believe this kind of reform does an injustice to the idea of merit. Though no one can deny minorities and women have made significant steps towards autonomy and equality in America, there are still wide educational and economic disparities between minority groups and white males. While the issues and controversies surrounding race can not be resolved easily, the question remains: Do we still need affirmative action in America? I say yes, affirmative action was and is needed to help prevent unfairness caused by discrimination in America.

Affirmative Action: Equality for All? Affirmative action in the United States has become a misused and misguided practice in modern times. In the current form of affirmative action, it is impossible to create a truly equal society. It was originally used as an equal opportunity measure to allow qualified minorities into positions they were denied because of race. However, affirmative action has become a system of racial quotas that lowers standards for minority applicants in order to give them a chance to succeed in universities, jobs, and leadership positions.

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... ... middle of paper ... ...prejudice when it’s truly all in their head and the only ones stopping them are themselves. Racial prejudice is not what’s stopping blacks from thriving, it’s a multitude of things that African Americans bring on themselves. According to Charles Canady, crime, substandard academic performance, and out-of-wedlock births stand in the way of progress.

More effective programs should be implemented to take the place of affirmative action. Minorities have been victims of the worst crime, the removal of God-given rights, but this country fought a bloody civil war to ensure those rights for all citizens. The Fourteenth Amendment gives all citizens the same privileges, but affirmative action gives preferential treatment to minorities. Minorities are citizens and should be treated as such; they should not be treated as dependent outcasts. The government is forcing institutions of higher education to give up their demands of excellence in order to fulfill quotas.

The purpose of affirmative action is to ensure equal opportunity for minorities. But it has strayed from its original intent and has become largely a program to achieve not equal opportunity but equal results. It is a system of quotas forced upon American businesses and working class by the federal government. A law which forces people to look at race before looking at the individual cannot promote equal opportunity. Affirmative action continues the judgement of minorities by race; it causes reverse discrimination, and contradicts its purpose.

Affirmative Action as Discrimination Based on Race Affirmative action is geared towards providing solution to the long standing issu... ... middle of paper ... ...d not by their competence but by their race. Affirmative action is not ethical because it is against the law on equal opportunities. When it is supposed to help the disadvantaged, it instead suggests that people of color are inferior and therefore need special privileges in order to succeed. Affirmative action also offends the ethnic minorities on account that they are not allowed to compete head to head with the advantaged group. On the other hand, not all that is about affirmative action hurt the white.