History Of Affirmative Action

1189 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: History of affirmative action essay

Affirmative Action: History and Politicization Although the history of affirmative action is significantly shorter and more compact than abortion, affirmative action remains a dividing issue between conservatives and liberals. President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 10925 in 1961 to affirm the government’s efforts to create equal opportunity for qualified candidates, but Lyndon B. Johnson’s Executive Order 11246 in 1965, which explicitly prohibited employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, and eventually sex, superseded this. Specifically regarding college admissions, the first wave of affirmative action arose in the 1960s in northern schools, either in response to campus protests and urban riots or from liberally …show more content…

The height of reverse discrimination cases was in the 1978 Supreme Court case Regents of the University of California v. Bakke. The affirmative action policy in place had reserved sixteen spots for qualified minorities. University of California Medical School at Davis rejected Allan Bakke, a white man, twice, and both times the school admitted candidates less qualified than Bakke. The Supreme Court ultimately decided that race could be a consideration in an effort to promote diversity, but could not implement quota systems for minority students. In this way, the Supreme Court was able to continue promoting gains for minorities through affirmative action while limiting issues of reverse …show more content…

For example, the highest court decided the last major case, Fisher v. University of Texas, in 2016 and upheld their use of affirmative action. Citizens and government workers continue to discuss the use of affirmative action. People argue whether the issue of race or gender has any bearing on applications for colleges or jobs, and whether school boards or management should deny admission or jobs to well-qualified candidate in an effort to promote and increase diversity. Just in January 2018, Google faced a lawsuit of discriminating against men in applications by utilizing a quota system, while simultaneously being sued for paying women unfairly to men. The complexity of affirmative action programs and achieving diversity and equality tends to singularly divide along the line of the privileged and entitled individuals versus those that have a history of being oppressed. Entitlement disorder can explain why white men are the group most opposed to reverse discrimination. Given that more white men are conservative than liberal, there is no question why this issue became politicized, but identifying when it became politicized is more

Show More
Related

  • Reverse Discrimination: The Case of Allan Bakke

    1600 Words  | 4 Pages

    The name of this case and the specific facts, however, were unavailable at this time.9 Obviously affirmative action and reverse discrimination are still heavily debated issues. This is because they affect all people of all races and ethnicities. Conclusion Allan Bakke was denied his fourteenth amendment right to equal protection of the laws. In addition the University of California at Davis violated Title IV of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. By order of the Supreme Court Bakke was admitted and th e numerical quotas of the special admissions program were deemed unconstitutional. Justice was served to Bakke, but future generations who are not minorities may be plagued by the other half of the decision: That race may still be used as a "plus" on an application.

    Read More

  • Regents of the University of California v. Bakke

    555 Words  | 2 Pages

    When Bakke applied again in 1974 he was once again rejected. This time Bakke sued the University of California. His position was that the school had excluded him on the basis of his race and violated his rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the California Constitution, and civil rights legislation. The trial court ruled in Bakke's favor, however they did not order the University of California to admit him. Bakke appealed to the California Supreme Court where they ruled that the school's admissions programs were unconstitutional and ordered the school to admit Bakke as a student.

    Read More

  • Reverse Discrimination In College Admissions

    1249 Words  | 3 Pages

    Affirmative action, the act of giving preference to an individual for hiring or academic admission based on the race and/or gender of the individual has remained a controversial issue since its inception decades ago. Realizing its past mistake of discriminating against African Americans, women, and other minority groups; the state has legalized and demanded institutions to practice what many has now consider as reverse discrimination. “Victims” of reverse discrimination in college admissions have commonly complained that they were unfairly rejected admission due to their race. They claimed that because colleges wanted to promote diversity, the colleges will often prefer to accept applicants of another race who had significantly lower test scores and merit than the “victims”. In “Discrimination and Disidentification: The Fair-Start Defense of Affirmative Action”, Kenneth Himma responded to these criticisms by proposing to limit affirmative action to actions that negate unfair competitive advantages of white males established by institutions (Himma 277 L. Col.). Himma’s views were quickly challenged by his peers as Lisa Newton stated in “A Fair Defense of a False Start: A Reply to Kenneth Himma” that among other rationales, the Fair-Start Defense based on race and gender is a faulty justification for affirmative action (Newton 146 L. Col.). This paper will also argue that the Fair-Start Defense based on race and gender is a faulty justification for affirmative action because it cannot be fairly applied in the United States of America today. However, affirmative action should still be allowed and reserved for individuals whom the state unfairly discriminates today.

    Read More

  • Allan Bakke Application To Medical Schools

    1392 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bakke’s first application to the University of California was submitted late due to a medical condition his mother had been suffering from at the time, the tardiness of the application was most likely a key factor in his rejection. Furthermore Bakke applied again in 1974, this time ensuring the application was submitted in a timely manner. To his dismay the second application was also rejected. Following his second rejection Bakke learned that many minority students with substantially lower qualifications had been admitted to the university under the special admission program. The program was designed as the schools affirmative action program to ensure racial discrimination did not take place during the admission process and to assist in diversifying the student population. The program reserved sixteen out of one hundred seats and was only available to minority students. The program also allowed for minority students to be admitted under lower standards than the regular

    Read More

  • Reverse Discrimination Lisa Newton

    1279 Words  | 3 Pages

    Over the past 15 years tremendous awareness has been raised around this and programs of preferential treatment emerged. These programs ensured equal rights for people of color and females in the work place, allowing for them to apply for executive level positions and earn the same amount of money, benefits, and prestige as a white male ensuring equality for all race and sex. Lisa Newton argues that, “reverse discrimination does not advance but actually undermines equality because it violates the concept of equal justice under law for all citizens. In addition, to this theoretical objection to reverse discrimination, Newton opposes it because she believes it raises insoluble problems.” Among them are determining what groups have been sufficiently discriminated against in the past to deserve preferred treatment in the present and determining the degree of reverse discrimination that will be compensatory. Newton outlines the importance of ensuring her argument is recognized as logically distinct from the condition of justice in the political sense. She begins her argument for reverse discrimination as unjustified by addressing the “simple justice” claim requiring that we favor women and blacks in employment and education opportunities. Since women and blacks were unjustly excluded from such opportunities for so many years in the not so distant past, however when employers and schools favor women and blacks, the same injustice is done. This reverse discrimination violates the public equality which defines citizenship and destroys the rule of law for the areas in which these favors are granted. To the extent that we adopt a program of discrimination, reverse or otherwise, justice in the political sense is destroyed, and none of us, specifically affected or no is a citizen, as bearers of rights we are all petitioners

    Read More

  • Affirmative Action: Giving Preferential Admissions to Minority Students

    1316 Words  | 3 Pages

    “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...

    Read More

  • Affirmative Action in College Admissions

    1570 Words  | 4 Pages

    Affirmative action has been a controversial topic ever since it was established in the 1960s to right past wrongs against minority groups, such as African Americans, Hispanics, and women. The goal of affirmative action is to integrate minorities into public institutions, like universities, who have historically been discriminated against in such environments. Proponents claim that it is necessary in order to give minorities representation in these institutions, while opponents say that it is reverse discrimination. Newsweek has a story on this same debate which has hit the nation spotlight once more with a case being brought against the University of Michigan by some white students who claimed that the University’s admissions policies accepted minority students over them, even though they had better grades than the minority students. William Symonds of Business Week, however, thinks that it does not really matter. He claims that minority status is more or less irrelevant in college admissions and that class is the determining factor.

    Read More

  • Affirmative Action and Racial Tension

    1704 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Racial Bias in College Admission

    879 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sacks, David, and Peter Thiel. "The Case Against Affirmative Action." Stanford Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2014.

    Read More

  • Is Affirmative Action still needed?

    973 Words  | 2 Pages

    The issue of affirmative action has been a controversial one since its inception. The law was developed during the 1960’s as a result of the civil rights movement and the need to address injustices committed against minorities throughout the United States history. There were multiple attempts to correct the inequities between the majority and the various minorities including the 13, 14 and 15th Amendments. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 allowed for the creation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to create rules to end discrimination. Affirmative action came into being with the executive order 11246 issued by President Johnson. The Civil Rights Act and President Johnson’s executive order have been updated throughout the years to address gender, disabilities, age and other characteristics that could be considered discriminatory.

    Read More

  • Affirmative Action and Higher Education Admissions

    1665 Words  | 4 Pages

    Signed in an executive order by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, the Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity was created to ensure that hiring and employment practices are free of racial bias. Three years later, President Lyndon Johnson presented the Civil Rights Act in 1964 prohibiting discrimination of all kinds based on race, color, religion, or national origin (Wang & Shulruf, 2012). Later that same year, President Johnson gave a commencement speech attempting to give an ethical response to the losses both materially and mentally to the African-Americans in slavery in the United States (Chace, 2011). Within the later years of the 1960s, higher education institution administrators, in an effort to boost under-represented groups of minorities, introduced the affirmative action concept into the admissions processes (Wang & Shulruf, 2012).

    Read More

  • Abolishing Racial Inequality

    1480 Words  | 3 Pages

    Kennedy was president. Affirmative action is a result of the Civil Rights movement, because its original goal was to create equal opportunities for minority groups. “In 1961, President Kennedy was the first to use the term "affirmative action" in an Executive Order that directed 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.’”(“Affirmative Action | Overview.” Feb. 7th, 2014, NCSL). Affirmative action has been brought up in the Supreme Court on multiple occasions. In 1978, the Bakke v. University of California was one of the first cases to be brought to the Supreme Court. It allowed race to be one of several factors during the college admission policy. In 2003, the Gratz v. Bollinger case regarding the University of Michigan, affirmative action was impacting their undergraduate admissions policy. Students who had 3.0 GPAs and high test scores on the ACT were not being accepted due to the fact that they wouldn’t benefit the school's racial diversity. Affirmative action doesn’t only apply to education, in 1965 President Lyndon signed an executive order requiring government contractors to to use the affirmative action policies while hiring in order to create more diversity in the workplace (“Affirmative Action | Overview.” Feb. 7th, 2014, NCSL). Affirmative action benefited many minority groups when the policy was first signed off in 1961; yet, America is rapidly changing and affirmative action policies seem to be creating controversy throughout the

    Read More

  • American Standard Of Living During The 1950s

    2228 Words  | 5 Pages

    Throughout the 1950s, the NAACP with the help of Charles Hamilton Houston and Thurgood Marshall pursued lawsuits against the “separate but equal” policy instated by the Plessy v. Ferguson case. For years, colleges and universities in which there was no African American counterpart avoided court orders to admit black students by hastily setting up “equal” counterparts. But in 1950, the Supreme Court ordered that a black student be admitted to the University of Texas Law School, despite the fact that the state “…had established a “school” for him in the basement” (Foner 953). The court declared that there was no way that this “school” was equal, and demanded that the student be admitted to the law school, sparking an era that called for desegregation. Later, in 1954, a landmark decision came from the Supreme Court as a result of the Brown v. BOE case. In the early 1950s, a man named Oliver Brown went to court to fight that fact that his daughter “…was forced to walk across dangerous railroad tracks each morning rather than being allowed to attend a nearby school restricted to whites” (Foner 953). The case made it all the way to the Supreme Court, and on May 17, 1954, the court declared that “Segregation in public education…violated the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment” (Foner 954), arguing that the

    Read More

  • Racism In Racism

    1685 Words  | 4 Pages

    Affirmative Action is defined as an active effort to improve the employment or educational opportunities of members of minority groups and woman (Merriam-Webster). Recently a landmark decision on a regarding affirmative action has being in the forefront; Grutter v. Bollinger was a case in which the United States Supreme Court banned the affirmative action admissions policy of the University of Michigan Law School. A white law school candidate in 1997 with a GPA of 3.8 trials the University of Michigan Law School use of race being the reason in the admissions process due to being denied as a student at Michigan Law. The decision in this court case was the University of Michigan Law School admissions program that gave special consideration for being a certain racial minority did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment.

    Read More

  • Grutter V. Bollinger Case Analysis

    576 Words  | 2 Pages

    Bollinger case, the Gratz v. Bollinger case favored a different ruling in which race was not constitutional for distributing 20 or 1/5 of points to minorities who were underrepresented on the campus of state universities. I too agree with the court's decision because race can often get complicated when other factors such as being bi-racial and being a certain percentage of other ethnicities can be difficult to classify or group. Giving me 20 points on my application just because I'm Black is somewhat impeding and downgrading; my education, extra-curriculum activities, and other leadership experiences will be devalued and unappreciated in my eyes. I am a strong advocate for more racial inclusion and diversity programs on college campuses; however, I understand that race can be complex with negating and challenging certain stereotypes or other taboo topics that relates to race and ethnicity. Thus, another person's race should not be more valued or look down upon just because of phylogenetic features. Each race should be viewed as one of the same, but in reality, its not because of economical disparities, political beliefs, and social

    Read More

More about History Of Affirmative Action

Open Document