In the beginning of the 1960's minorities and women were treated as though they were sub-human. They were thrown in jail for no reason, given stereotypes by the majority, and cursed upon in the streets. An uprising began to occur called the Civil Rights Movement. They called for the fair treatment of all men regardless of race. In the following years, President Lyndon B. Johnson took steps to write what is to be known today as the Civil Rights Act of 1965. With this bill came affirmative action. Affirmative action enabled minority men and women to get jobs that they would otherwise never get. To Johnson, affirmative action grew from the belief that the Constitution guarantees more than just an end to illegal. The act tried to create a just method of obtaining jobs during the racial times of the 1960's and 70's.
In 1965, President Johnson used the term affirmative action to inform federal contractors to treat job-applicants and employees "without regards to their race, color, religion, sex, or national origin" (La Noue). In the preceding year the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed simply to make laws fair to all races, sexes, and religions; or "color-blind". However, such a movement went further than merely giving equal opportunities to everyone. The United States took upon itself the responsibility to give opportunities to minorities by giving them favors such as: hiring, promotion, college admission, and the awarding of government contracts. Such policies did not express the true meaning of equal opportunities, which was introduced in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and provided for a means in which all people would receive equal treatment, but rather took its own steps into a form of discrimination. Affirmative action is hinder on America's working world by taking away job opportunities form those peoples that are more qualified to hold that position.
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