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Inequality: the battle still rages on in our country, hidden just below the surface. Is inequality occuring when a minority individual fails to achieve admittance to a job/university? Is it occuring when more qualified majority members of society are coming in second to under-qualified ethnic groups? Admittance should be based on individual merit rather than ethnicity. However, Affirmative Action stands in the way. Stand firmly in opposition to Affirmative Action, I say! Support its abolishment before it does any more damage to society. Affirmative Action is a set of policies and a mindset that take gender, race, and ethnicity into account in order to achieve “equal opportunity.” In other words, Affirmative Action tells companies and universities that they need to admit the same amount of ethic peoples as white men, regardless of merit or individual potential. President Kennedy issued Executive Order 10925 which required government officials to "take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and employees are treated during employment, without regard to thei...
After long years of suffering, degradation, and different sorts of discrimination which the disadvantaged group of people had experienced, the “Affirmative Action Law” was finally passed and enforced for the very first time on September 24, 1965. The central purpose of the Affirmative Action Law is to combat racial inequality and to give equal civil rights for each citizen of the United States, most especially for the minorities. However, what does true equality mean? Is opportunity for everyone? In an article entitled, “None of this is fair”, the author, Mr. Richard Rodriguez explains how his ethnicity did not become a hindrance but instead, the law became beneficial. However, Mr. Richard Rodriguez realized the unfairness of the “Affirmative Action” to people who are more deserving of all the opportunities that were being offered to him. Through Mr. Rodriguez’s article, it will demonstrates to the reader both favorable, and adverse reaction of the people to the Affirmative Action, that even though the program was created with the intention to provide equality for each and every citizen, not everyone will be pleased, contented, and benefit from the law.
We all have heard regarding the controversial arguments and debates regarding whether affirmative action is valid under U.S. Constitution. Before discussing whether to support or refute affirmative action, there is a need for all of us to know what affirmative action really is. By definition, affirmative action policies are those institutions and organizations vigorously engages in an effort work of improving the lives of minorities in the United States (NCSL). This means that institutions attempt to find ways to provide groups that have been historically excluded from American society equal accesses to public necessities such as education, salary pay, and so forth. To me, the application of the affirmative action in the society we live in clearly violates the Fourteenth Amendment, which forbids authorities to “deny...any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws” (The Library of Congress). Throughout this research paper we will go into details and explain four reasons why affirmative action violates the Fourteenth Amendments and should be unconstitutional. These reasons are as follows: the development of reverse discrimination, the creation of stigma against women and minorities, the buildup of racial tension, and the fact of attempting to solve a racial problem that no longer exist.
Affirmative action is without a doubt, one of the most controversial and debated political topics found throughout the entirety of the history of the United States, especially in regards to college admissions. On both sides of the argument, you have millions of Americans vitriolically defending their beliefs as to whether or not affirmative action is a positive thing that benefits the entirety of America as a whole, or rather an outdated model existing well past its expiration date. Both sides of the argument have its pro and cons, but personally, I am of the opinion that affirmative action in regards to college admissions does more harm than good for America as a whole on a social, political, and economic level, and that it at the very least needs to be modified heavily, if not abolished altogether. However, in order to first understand the arguments both supporting and decrying affirmative action, as well as the controversy behind it, we first need to delve into its history for the related context.
Affirmative action refers to policies established to benefit the under-represented minorities in the fields of education, employment and culture. This is meant to avert the historical discrimination on the basis of religion, color, national origin or sex during hiring process. Implementation of these policies may encompass preferential selection in the job market. This results in mixed reactions and opinions from the public generating a lot of controversies.
According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, affirmative action is “an active effort to improve employment or educational opportunities for members of minority groups and women.” However, despite its well-intentioned policies, it has been the source of much controversy over the years. Barbara Scott and Mary Ann Schwartz mention that “proponents of affirmative action argue that given that racism and discrimination are systemic problems, their solutions require institutional remedies such as those offered by affirmative action legislation” (298). Also, even though racism is no longer direct, indirect forms still exist in society and affirmative action helps direct. On the other hand, opponents to affirm...
Subconscious prejudices, self-segregation, political correctness, reverse discrimination, and ignorance all wade in the pool of opinions surrounding affirmative action and racial animosity. With racial tensions ever present in this country, one might question whether the problems can be solved by affirmative action.
The government thinks that implementing affirmative action will repair inequality, but it cannot. In the midst of tying to promote equality, they are promoting discrimination. Discrimination is the violation of one’s human rights based on gender, sex, race, ethnicity and/or relation. President Johnson felt that blacks being free and able to go to the same school as Caucasians were not just enough for the past discrimination and turmoil the African Americans went through. Affirmative action was used as a cure to remedy lost times. Sandal made some valid points; he noted that th...
The roots of affirmative action may be traced back to the early 1960’s, during the Civil Rights Movement. It was in 1961 that President John F. Kennedy issued an Executive Order that first introduced affirmative action. This order included an establishment that government contractors “take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and employees are treated fairly during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin.” (University of California Irvine) Over the years, there have been many adjustments to affirmative action, but they all reiterated the same general idea. This idea is that there would be equal opportunity for all qualified persons, and to take positive actions in order to ensure there would be equal opportunity for all. (University of California Irvine) Affirmative action has been successful, it has increased the number of recruiting and screening practices by employers, raised employers’ inclination to hire denounced applicants, increased the number of minority or female applicants and employees, and it increased the likelihood that employers will provide training and evaluate the...
Today there is considerable disagreement in the country over Affirmative Action with the American people. MSNBC reported a record low in support for Affirmative Action with 45% in support and 45% opposing (Muller, 2013). The affirmative action programs have afforded all genders and races, exempting white males, a sense of optimism and an avenue to get the opportunities they normally would not be eligible for. This advantage includes admission in colleges or hiring preferences with public and private jobs; although Affirmative Action has never required quotas the government has initiated a benefits program for the schools and companies that elect to be diversified. The advantages that are received by the minorities’ only take into account skin color, gender, disability, etc., are what is recognized as discriminatory factors. What is viewed as racism to the majority is that there ar...
Affirmative Action in the United States is a government program that tries to help overcome the effects of past societal discrimination by allocating jobs and resources to members of specific minority groups (The Columbia 1). The policy was set up to assist every single minority group, which includes women, minority races, handicapped people, and war veterans, especially those of the Vietnam War. Affirmative Action was set up to help these minority groups by giving them strategic advantages when those individuals apply for jobs and higher levels of education. In the Washington Post, it said that, "In its modern form, Affirmative Action can call for an admissions officer faced with two similarly qualified applicants to choose the minority over the white, or for a manager to recruit and hire a qualified woman for a job instead of a man" (Froom...
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.
Social inequality, an issue that has been debated many times throughout the years, has discrimination, racism and sexism. Since people have to deal with this every day, social inequality seems like it will never disappear. However, society believes that their answer to solving this problem has been created, which is Affirmative Action. The purpose of affirmative action is to acquire more diversity and to control the basis of racism in America. This idea is to represent equality for women and minorities who work and are attending universities. For example, when applying to universities, they always ask about your ethnicity, depending on what race you are, you have the upper hand of getting into the school. This is how Universities are trying to bring more diversity and affirmative action is a great idea. However, looking at the sociological attributes to the idea of affirmative action, it does not seem like it is the best way to handle social inequality. In order for affirmative action to truly be a success in society, there are three aspects that need to be analysis: functional analysis (functionalism), conflict theory, symbolic interactionism. Through these three aspects, the advantages and disadvantages of affirmative action will be shown.
Imagine waking up tomorrow and reading in the local paper that the government was giving tax breaks to minorities in order to prevent discrimination. Congress insists that the deductions will “help level the playing field” in American society, claiming that diversity is necessary in creating an ideal nation, but is this attempt to prevent disparities and racism not an act of inequality in itself? By putting this policy into place, the government is giving advantages to minorities without showing the same generosity to Caucasians of the same economic backgrounds. Protests would be taking place around the country as citizens argue that the plan violates their Constitutional right to equality. Yet this is exactly the type of scenario seen in universities across the country. Colleges use race as a large factor in admissions in order to create “optimal diversity” among the students. However, this attempt at variety often comes at the expense of white and Asian students. For these reasons, affirmative action policies in college admissions should be eliminated in the United States.
Affirmative action or positive discrimination can be defined as providing advantages for people of a minority group who are seen to have traditionally been discriminated against. This consists of preferential access to education, employment, health care, or social welfare. In employment, affirmative action may also be known as employment equity. Affirmative action requires that institutions increase hiring and promotion of candidates of mandated groups. (Rubenfeld, 1997, p. 429)
The need for affirmative action was a concept noticed in 1865 during the passages of the Civil War amendments. During those years our country was still practicing in slavery and wrongful treatment of the black race. While blacks were being forced to comply to the rules of slavery, many individuals were denied their rights to food, clothing, shelter, employment, education and many other wants and/or needs. Similar acts such as these over time lead the law of affirmative action. Over the years, affirmative action plans and policies continue to merge to further in the efforts of benefiting the equality among historically disadvantaged ethnic groups as well as women. From our past to our present many people who are equally qualified and in need of jobs, services, assistance and/or necessities are denied due to their gender, race, religion, and/or ethnicity. Acts of discrimination are not just associated with employment but extend to educational opportunities, housing needs, contracting for small and large business and other public services.