Education and Affirmative Actions

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What does equality mean? For many centuries, America has had a difficult time answering that question. In the seventeenth and eighteenth century, African Americans were not equal since Americans called them property, put them in chains and beat those people. From the seventeen to the nineteen hundreds, women were forbidden to vote; they had to stay at home or work in small factory, thus, they were not equal. However, nowadays, issues of equality are challenged through affirmative action. Across the nation, the use of affirmative action in education has stirred controversy. Some people believe that instigating affirmative action in the college admissions process would create a diverse education. Nevertheless, some consider that it is merely a policy of reverse discrimination against white and Asian students.

In 1961, the notion of affirmative first appeared when President Kennedy told government contractors to take “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” (Kennedy, Executive Order 10925). But it was not until 1978, the first controversy in college admissions arose, through Regents of the University of California v. Bakke case. Since then, the questions about whether or not affirmative action increases equality in the admission process have been and remain heated debates.

Many people believe that affirmative action helps prepare student for multicultural environment. Most highly selective universities claim that a rich ethnic mix on campus attributes to a better education. Paul Gaston, a university professor who has taught for more than 40 years, witnessed the changes on campus and claimed that “befo...

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... affirmative action likes a wheelchair for the un-needing. Why give person a wheelchair if they do not have a broken leg?

Works Cited

Anonymous Author, “Focus on Affirmative Action in Michigan.” The Los Angeles

Times. 26 June. 2001.

Clayton, Mark. “One University’s Case for Race.” The Christian Science Monitor

1 April. 2003.

Hernandez, Michele. “Athletes Are the Problem.” The New York Times. 13 November.

2011.

Kennedy, John F. "Executive Order 10925," March 6, 1961.

Krauthammer, Charles. “Lies, Damn Lies and Racial Statistics.” Time. 20 April.

1998.

Samuelson, Robert. “Affirmative Ambiguity.” The Washington Post. June. 2003.

Thernstrom, Abigail. “Affirmative Actions; Colleges Rulings Add Insult to Injury;

Court’s Upholding of Admissions Preference Glosses Over Need for Better

Early Schooling.” The Los Angeles Times. 29 June 2003.

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