The Issue of Affirmative Action
A major controversy encompassing the country is the issue of affirmative action. Many believe that the abolition, or at least restructure, of affirmative action in the United States will benefit the nation for many logical reasons. Originally, affirmative action began as an attempt to eliminate discrimination and provide a source of opportunity; affirmative action did not begin as an attempt to support just minorities and women. In addition, affirmative action naturally creates resentment when the less qualified are preferred instead of the people actually deserve the admission or job. Another reason that has existed since the abolition of slavery is the myth that women and ?minorities? cannot compete against white males without receiving special preference or treatment. Money used for the support and continuance of affirmative action cost in excess of 125 million dollars annually. Important programs in the country may benefit from the money received by affirmative action bureaucrats. Most importantly, the fundamentals of democracy rest on the equality of all people, whereas affirmative action is actually trying to give minorities and women higher status of importance than Caucasians. If the policies of affirmative action end, then the nation can return to its original equal opportunity policies.
The original founders of the Civil Rights Act intended for all people, including majorities and minorities, to receive equal opportunities for education and job positions. Presently, in today?s economic system, companies and businesses offering job positions have to meet quotas and statistics proving that they are not discriminating against one race or gender for another. For example, a software comp...
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...across as meaning that all Caucasians are rich and do not need financial aid, minorities are all poor, and every minority person needs financial aid. This is the complete opposite belief of what our ancestors tried to start.
Every government and educational system should dispose of affirmative action and let people succeed on a fair, color-blind, race-blind, and gender-blind basis. Affirmative action does not represent what it started out to represent and people feel resentment to others who receive a part of the millions of dollars spent. The country should go back to the passing of the United States Civil Rights act: ?The state shall not discriminated against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group, on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.
Affirmative Action, A Social Issue The black rights and women’s rights movements of the 1960’s fought against injustice and discrimination that had been suffered by minorities for years (Hudson). In response, President Kennedy issued Executive Order 10925 in 1961, creating a Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity and mandating that projects financed by federal funding would “take affirmative action” to ensure that hiring and employment practices were free of racial bias (Hudson). Two more executive
Controversial Issue of Affirmative Action Considering the subject of affirmative action the following questions frequently are raised: Is there a clear understanding of affirmative action roles/goals? What are the pros/cons of these programs? What are the "loop holes" in the system? Does seniority play a role in affirmative action? Addressing these key questions may help us all in our daily routine, as administrators and/or potential administrator in the public/private sector. Affirmative action programs
The policy of affirmative action was created to promote equal opportunity in the workfield, however the policy has its own issues as it has produced lots of controversies since its inception. In particular, opponents of Affirmative action argues against the real effects of affirmative action and skeptical whether societal disparities in employment opportunities and incomes were simply the outcome of socioeconomic labelling, hence the effectiveness of affirmative action to address the disparities
Affirmative Action has been an issue of contention since its inception during the Civil Rights struggles of mid 20th century America. Discrimination could no longer be tolerated and the Unites States government had an obligation to encourage equality at all levels of the social infrastructure. The main type of discrimination being addressed by Affirmative Action programs was racial discrimination. The Merriam Webster dictionary defines racism as: ‘a belief that race is the primary determinant of
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
While constructing my website my goal was to provide information to the public about affirmative action without swaying or giving biased to one side or another. Affirmative action is an emotional and delicate issue in our country and those who are for or against affirmative action usually have some sort of emotional attachment towards their decision, because of this constructing a website can then be very tricky. I carefully chose what sources I wanted to use for my website and meticulously reviewed
Though Affirmative Action is a current controversial issue, it is far from new; its decree has been long in the making. Perhaps it originates from amendments 13-15, the series of amendments that outlawed slavery, guaranteed equal protection under the law, and forbid racial discrimination when voting, respectively (Sykes 1). The Supreme Court’s decision in 1896, in the case of Plessy V. Ferguson, mandated separate but equal treatment for African Americans (Sykes 1). However, in 1954, the Supreme
Affirmative action is an attempt by the United States to amend a long history of racial discrimination and injustice. Our school textbook defines affirmative action as “a program established that attempts to improve the chances of minority applicants for educational or employment purposes, although they may have the same qualifications, by giving them leverage so that they can attain a level that is equal to caucasian applicants” (Berman 522). There are people that support and oppose this issue.
Affirmative Action and Racial Equality (1) Issue Identification Many individuals do not know the meaning of the term “affirmative action.” In order to clearly understand the issue, one must first know the necessary terms associated with it. Affirmative action is a term given to an action or policy favoring those who tend to suffer from discrimination (i.e. African Americans, Asians, etc.). For example, certain scholarships for African Americans can be regarded as affirmative action opportunities
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
The debate over affirmative action is a debate over the conflict of rights. This conflict of rights makes a clear-cut ruling or decision on the subject almost unattainable. However, there can be arguments made both for and against affirmative action. Supporters of affirmative action claim that racism and sexism can only be overcome by taking race and sex into account in finding a solution. They think that giving everyone equal rights is not enough to overcome the burden. Therefore, for everyone to
Affirmative Action Helps Qualified Minorities Affirmative action doesn't require a company to hire the local percentage of women and minorities, qualified or not. The program determines the percentage of qualified women and minorities available to a company, then sets flexible goals, to be reached in good faith. As a result, numerous studies show that minorities who land their jobs through affirmative action are not less qualified than their colleagues. Critics of affirmative action often
Affirmative action is the process of improving employment, hiring, and admission practices for groups previously discriminated against. Executive Order 10925 issued by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 created the Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity and introduced affirmative action to the country. Affirmative action is a way of compensating for the previous 345 years of slavery and legalized discrimination. Higher education has been utilizing affirmative action in their admission processes
Affirmative action served its purpose and is no longer essential. Definition of affirmative action -- steps an organization takes to actively seek qualified applicants from groups undenepresented in the workforce. Affirmative action policies were developed to address long histories of discrimination faced by minorities and women. They first emerged from debates over non-discrimination policies in the 1940s and during the Civil Rights Movement. These debates led to federal executive orders requiring
Affirmative Action: A Counterproductive Policy The term affirmative action was first introduced in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy but was imposed by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Kennedy used it to compensate for the discrimination that people had to endure, even with the help of civil laws and constitutional assurances. These active measures are to help minorities obtain college and job opportunities that are equal to those white’s acquire. These opportunities include promotions, salary increases