The Study of Affirmative Action

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Recommended: Affirmative action and its role in modern world

The Study of the Supreme Court Cases Regarding Affirmative Action The history of majority rights in the United States goes all the way back to the creation of the United States constitution. Although barely acknowledged at the time, it has become the contemporary issue of the United States starting with the Civil War. To this day civil rights are still being fought for and discrimination still occurs all over the United States; however, affirmative action is one of the main victories minorities have gained in their sermon for equal rights. First initiated in the 1960s with President John F. Kennedy’s Executive order number 10925, the equal employment opportunity for all races was implementing the civil rights act. It was again reaffirmed with Lyndon Johnson’s executive order 11246 which “forced government contracts to take affirmative action toward minority applicant in all aspects of employment and hiring,” (Stewart 2014). The policy of affirmative action was implemented so well calls of “reverse racism” were appearing all over the U.S. even to this day. I saw this first hand when a friend of mine with over a 2200 on the SAT, a near 4.0 GPA, and plenty of extra-curricular activities was waitlisted during the Emory application process while an African American women with stats much lower than my friend in every single way was accepted without hesitation. In fact nearly all my other friends with similar characteristics were either rejected or waitlisted at Emory while nearly every African American from my school that applied there from my school was accepted. As a seventeen year old African American man applying to college next year, it would be thought that I would love affirmative action, and I did for a while. That’s until I ... ... middle of paper ... ... like my friend would gain acceptance to the colleges not based on their race or ethnicity but rather their hard work. Works Cited Stewart, Chuck. (2014). affirmative action. In American Government. Retrieved March 25, 2014, from http://americangovernment.abc-clio.com/ Baldwin, B. (2009). COLORBLIND DIVERSITY: THE CHANGING SIGNIFICANCE OF "RACE" IN THE POST BAKKE ERA. Albany Law Review, 72(4), 863-890. Fourteenth Amendment -- Equal Protection Clause -- Public-University Affirmative Action – Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin. (2013). Harvard Law Review, 127(1), 258-267. Streetlaw. (2014). Landmark Cases of the U.S. Supreme Court. Retrieved April 1, 2014, from http://www.streetlaw.org/en/Page/608/Background_Summary__Questions_ 02-241. Grutter v. Bollinger (04/01/03). (2003, April 1). Retrieved April 20, 2014|, from 02-241. Grutter v. Bollinger (04/01/03)

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