Race and Affirmative Action
Race is an issue that is embedded in the nation’s history and continues to spur discussions on how the different minorities and ethnic groups must be treated fairly. Affirmative action is a recent attempt to solve the discriminations produced by racial inequality. However, affirmative action is also being scrutinized as scholars and the public debate the benefits and harms of affirmative action.
A Historical View
Throughout the past 30 years, affirmative action has been the answer to racial inequality. The policy began in 1965 under President Johnson. It was used to redress issues of discrimination, following the civil rights laws and constitutional guarantees on education and jobs. From the outset, affirmative action was envisioned as a temporary remedy that would create a "level playing field" for all Americans.
Affirmative action policies required that active measures be taken to ensure that blacks and other minorities receive the same opportunities for career advancements, school admissions, scholarships, and financial aid that had been nearly exclusive provisions for whites. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the landmark legislation that prohibited employment discrimination by large employers (over 15 employees), whether or not they had government contracts. As a result, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was established. Lyndon B. Johnson issued the E.O. 11246 regulation. It required government contractors and subcontractors to implement affirmative action policies to expand job opportunities for minorities. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance (OFCC) was designated to administer the regulation. In 1973 the Nixo...
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...or group identity should not say that a person is naturally disadvantaged. There are many blacks in the US that are hindered by the economy, but there are also rich blacks and poor whites. Race should not determine who gets into college because black society as a whole is not entirely disadvantaged.
Bibliography:
Affirmative Action: The Perspectives in Detail and Overview: The Issue at a Glance. Public Agenda Online. 20 March 2003 http://www.publicagendaonline.org/ issues/overview.cf?issues_type=race.
“Bush Enters Affirmative Action Fray.” CBS News. 16 Jan. 2003. 20 March 2003
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/01/11/politics/main536148.shtml.
“Narrow Use of Affirmative Action Preserved in College Admissions.” Cnn.com. 25 June 2003. 13 July 2003 <http:cnn.law.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&expire=-1&ur1ID=6839596&fb..>.
3.The term Affirmative action has played a huge role in the past one hundred years of American politics. It is simply defined as an action or policy favoring those who tend to suffer. Civil Rights of American citizens have drastically changed because of Affirmative action. With almost anything in politics, there is a debate for and against Affirmative action. Supporters of this say that this helps encourage e...
Discrimination is still a chronic global issue, and drastic inequalities still exist at the present time. Thus, the Affirmative Action Law is an important tool to many minorities most especially to women, and people of color, for the reason that this program provides an equality on educational, and professional opportunities for every qualified individual living in the United States. Without this program, a higher education would have been impossible for a “minority students” to attain. Additionally, without the Affirmative Action, a fair opportunity to have a higher-level career...
majority, does not advance the cause of minorities in a meaningful way, and needs to be
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.
Racial preference has indisputably favored Caucasian males in society. Recently this dynamic has been debated in all aspects of life, including college admission. Racial bias has intruded on the students’ rights to being treated fairly. Admitting students on merit puts the best individuals into the professional environment. A university’s unprejudiced attitude towards race in applicants eliminates biases, empowers universities to harness the full potential of students’ intellect, and gives students an equal chance at admission.
A minority student is generally classified as belonging to a lower-income family than the average white American, who is classified by earning a higher income. A student belonging to a low-income family will not have the same opportunities as a student from a high-income background. A student from a high-income family will be able to afford more study aids and supplies. A student from a low-income family, generally a minority, does not have access to these resources. Because they frequently cannot afford the same materials as their white counterparts, they generally do not perform as strongly on standardized tests. Wealthy families are generally very well educated. They have greater knowledge of how to guide their children in the right direction for academic success. Some can afford a private school with better teachers and a more comfortable learning environment. Paying for college is easier, and academics often take greater priority in these well-to-do households. Usually, poorer families have a harder time paying for college and supporting their children. Schools in low-income areas tend to lack funding for good teachers and supplies because of their financial situation. More often than not, the main goal of these families is to have their children get through high school so that they can begin ea...
Known as one of the biggest obstacles in higher education to date would arguably be the use of affirmative action within the higher education admission process for both private and public institutions (Kaplin & Lee, 2014; Wang & Shulruf, 2012). The focus of current research is an attempt to either justify or deny the use of affirmative action within current practices through various higher education institutions, and though any one person could potentially be swayed to side with the rationale to maintain its use or disregard, the facts are quite clear that the future of this practice is unclear. Therefore, this essay will present current research in an attempt to determine if affirmative action should continue to be used within college admission decisions.
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....
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbid businesses connected with interstate commerce to discriminate when choosing its employees. If these businesses did not conform to the act, they would lose funds that were granted to them from the government. Another act that was passed to secure the equality of blacks was the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This act, which was readopted and modified in 1970, 1975, and 1982, contained a plan to eliminate devices for voting discrimination and gave the Department of Justice more power in enforcing equal rights. In another attempt for equal rights, the Equal Employment ...
Environmental issues affect every life on this planet from the smallest parasite to the human race. There are many resources that humans and animal needs to survive; some of the most obvious resources come from the forests. Forests make up a large percentage of the globe. The forests have global implications not just on life but on the quality of it. Trees improve the quality of the air that species breath, determine rainfall and replenish the atmosphere. The wood from the forests are used everyday form many useful resources. Moreover, thinning the forests increases the amount of available light, nutrients and water for the remaining trees. Deforestation (forest thinning) is one of the most critical issues of environmental problems that are occurring today.
Imagine you are driving down the road and you begin to notice the car in front of you is swerving. You start to wonder if the driver may be under the influence; you keep a close watch on the car, but keep your distance for safety precautions. All of a sudden the driver slams on their brakes to avoid hitting a pedestrian and you end up rear-ending them. Later you discover that the driver was texting on their phone and almost hit the pedestrian because their attention was elsewhere. How would that make you feel? Now, you have to pay to repair the damages on not only your car, but the other driver’s car as well. I believe that cell phone use while driving should be banned in all states due to the fact that it is already against the law in some states, it is a distraction to drivers, and it endangers self and others.
The Wind Turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of the wind into kinetic energy of turbines. The turbines turn to generate electricity but they work only when there is wind. The efficiency is 30-40%. The environmental impacts are needs many large turbines to generate electricity which can be noisy and unsightly. Turbines may endanger birds and bats.
Deforestation is not a recent act. It has been practiced throughout human history. About nine-tenths of all deforestation occurred before 1950, but it has increased dramatically over the last 60 years. Trees provide shelter,warmth and food. So its not a surprise that chopping down trees is an age old human activity. Wood from trees is used to build shelters and fuel fires. Fires are used for warmth and to cook food. Nuts and fruit from the trees are food for both humans and animals. Medicines and dyes are also made from the nuts and fruit from the tree. When the trees were cleared,there was rich soil to grow crops with. Back then, stones and flint axes were used to cut down the trees, but for the last sixty years, power saws have been used, and that has made a huge impact. (Williams, 2001).
American Institute of Biological Sciences. (2013, November 8). High bat mortality from wind turbines. ScienceDaily. Retrieved April 25, 2014 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131108091314.htm
The biosphere is sufficiently larger than anyone could ever imagine. It could possibly have up to thirty million different types animals, plants, fungi, and all other organisms. Considering the ocean covers seventy percent of Earth and all of it’s matter, scientists and oceanographers have only explored and mapped five percent of it. This amazing fact shows us, humans, how little we all know about the biosphere. The life forms of the biosphere of Earth vary from animals, plants, fungi, and various others. Out of the possible thirty million different species of life forms, scientists have only discovered a small portion of over one million of them. Every single one of these species need trees...