The Effects that Affirmative Action Has Had on Past and Future Endeavors of Minorities in the United States

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.

One may ask, what is affirmative action? Webster defines affirmative actions as ”the practice of improving the educational and job opportunities of members of groups that have not been treated fairly in the past because of their race, sex, etc.” What would be the purpose of creating equal opportunity when it was promised when founding America? The reality is that, America for a long time and some will even debate present times as well, has only been the America dream for one group of people, white male. There is no secret of the unfair treatment of African-American males and Women. The results of racism have changed tremendously but what has not changed is discrimination.

According to Charles Canady, crime, substandard academic performance, and out-of-wedlock births stand in the way of progress. He believes that civil rights groups use these issues to get benefits from the government through racial-preference policies instead of solving the real problems (Canady). Civil rights activists gain unfair benefit by exploiting their problems unrealistically when they really should be working on reforms and policies that will benefit blacks fairly. When studied in detail, it was determined that although affirmative action is meant to help all blacks, only a select group of individuals get the full benefits of the policy.

However, the individual w... ... middle of paper ... ... Am I being picked for my writing ability, or to fulfill a quota” (Chinea-Varela 342). Minorities like Migdia want to be treated as equals, not incompetents. Affirmative Action was an essential part of the desegregation that occurred thirty years ago, but it has become outdated and is no longer part of the solution. It was a temporary plan to improve the conditions for minorities, but it is now more of a hindrance than a help to them. Affirmative action lowers standards, causes unqualified workers to be hired, places a stigma on minorities, lowers their confidence, and gives them the opportunity and encouragement to idle.

Affirmative Action to Reverse Discrimination Question at Issue Affirmative action was implemented with the idea and hope that America would finally become truly equal. The tension of the 1960's civil rights movement had made it very clear, that the nation's minority and female population were not receiving equal social and economic opportunity. The implementation of affirmative action was America's first honest attempt at solving a problem, it had previously chose to ignore. However, there are many people that don't see affirmative action as a positive solution to this major societal problem of racial inequality. These people feel that Affirmative action uses reverse discrimination to solve the problem of discrimination in the workplace.

African Americans were subjected to slavery and discrimination and women had very little liberty. In the present, the United States is much closer to equality, yet gender and race still play a role in life’s opportunities given the high frequency of affirmative action programs; they attempt to increase the representation of minorities on college campuses and in the office, regardless of virtue. Programs of affirmative action arouse controversy because some groups view affirmative action as a catalyst for reverse discrimination whilst other groups support affirmative action as a way to diversify society and compensate for past exclusions.

Then, I will discuss the moral and ethical issues raised by continuing to function within a system that systematically disadvantages historically marginalized groups. With that as a backdrop, I will make a positive case for continuing affirmative action programs and discuss the practic... ... middle of paper ... ...ainly valid, qualifications to the table that are not recognized under our current system of merit. Notes: 1. While it is true that Affirmative action programs address the concerns of a wide range of Americans who confront discrimination, the debate is often understood to be about race; and specifically Black Americans. For that reason the emphasis of my essay will be on affirmative action programs that involve Black Americans.

Affirmative Action Blacks and other minority groups have been wrongfully persecuted and punished and have suffered the indignities of discrimination. As Martin Luther King stated so eloquently in his "I Have a Dream" speech, blacks should be judged "…not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." Our American culture with its political, legal, and social considerations, is struggling with the idea of white redemption while offering minorities a more fair and proportionate representation in the working community. The result of this challenge is the policy of affirmative action and the many controversies it brings with it. The proponents of affirmative action argue that because of past injustices, minorities deserve special privileges.

Programs that states are now voting to do away with. These states are labeled as “racist states” by many, but what people do not look into is why many communities are moving past the past by abolishing affirmative action. Equality can only be achieved one way, by unconditionally meeting a set of equal standards. As states and organizations began moving in this direction, it was in hopes that the transformative aspirations of a newly elected Black president could help deliver the nation to a post racial society secure enough within themselves to embrace ethnicity over racial differences. As it would turn out, this ideology was ephemeral at best; if it ever truly existed in the president to begin with.

Traditionally, it had been a policy that was greatly scrutinized for its quotas and alleged unfairness towards Blacks, but at the same time it had also been praised for its inherent ability to help minorities gets jobs they deserve but could not obtain otherwise. So how do we reach a "happy medium" so-to-speak? In American political culture, it appears as though individualism and egalitarianism are values that find themselves on opposite ends of the political battlefield. In a complex world of political ideology and political culture are sets of values and principles that are widely endorsed by politicians, educators, the media and other opinion leaders that make up the definition of what is to be American (Feldman and Zaller). Some favor the values of individual freedom, especially individual economic freedom, over other values, especially equality and popular sovereignty (egalitarianism).