Affirmative Action
Affirmative action is the set of public policies and initiativesdesigned to help eliminate past and present discrimination based on race,color, religion, sex, or national origin. Affirmative action was set intoplace during the 1960's by President Johnson as a way of redressingdiscrimination that had persisted in spite of civil rights laws andconstitutional guarantees. Focusing in particular on education and jobs,affirmative action policies required that active measures be taken toensure that blacks and other minorities enjoyed the same opportunities forpromotions, salary increases, career advancement, school admissions,scholarships, and financial aid that had been the nearly exclusive province The pro and con affirmative action is often intense. Proponents arguethat the policy is still necessary to create a "level playing field" forall Americans. Minorities and females still don't make as much money asmen do and we live in a society that often has difficulty acceptingindividuals with different race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.Angry oppoonents counter that affirmative action is an ineffective racistpolicy that is no longer needed. This group believes that af
"[6] With regards to the economy and affirmative action, an importantaspect to consider is the labor market disadvantage suffered by AfricanAmericans is their high unemployment rate. Today,the competitive playing field is by no means completely level, but fewwould disagree with the statement that the workforce and educationalinstitutions have achieved greater diversity and acceptance of individualswith different race, color, religion, sex, or national origin over the pastfour decades. There may be ways to achieve better results and to decrease thedissatisfaction of opponents such as economic, class-based affirmativeaction programs. " Under some programs, women "shall be presumed to be socially and economically disadvantaged individuals," too. Recently, the Justice Department challenged the affirmative actionadmissions policies at the University of Michigan stating that they"demonstrate the pernicious consequences that result when publicinstitutions deviate from this court's precedents by ignoring race-neutralalternatives and employing race-based polices that amount to racialquotas. The following quote illustrates the degree of dissatisfactionby the Center for Equal Opportunity with affirmative action policies. Class-based affirmativeaction may be the solution that best meets the needs of the disadvantagedwithout rewarding the upper middleclass and the wealthy just because theyare members of a certain group. Thereasoning is that "if hostilities and suspicions exist between members ofdifferent ethnic groups, then officers who belong to the same ethnic groupas neighborhood residents can function more effectively. "[4] On the job front, individuals and organization such as the Center forEqual Opportunity oppose affirmative action because it has been such anunfair windfall for wealthy minority business people that are finding waysto take advantage of the system. Furthermore, anti-affirmative action individuals claim that instead ofeliminating racism, affirmative action may be unwittingly promoting it. In contrast,twelve percent are black or Hispanic. But, it wasnot intended to be carried out indefinitely in an unmodified form.
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Acceptance Essays
