Defining Affirmative Action

Affirmative bodily function, by definition, is a program knowing to favor minorities and remedy past discrimination (Cummings, p. 192). It started in 1961 with President hindquarters F. Kennedy, by instructing the federal contractors to recognise favorable perform to ensure that all told the great unwashed are treated pitizely regardless of race, color, religion, sex or issue origin. Ever since it started, for much than thirty years now, it has been a contentious issue regarding employment practices (Anniston).This research paper will discuss the level of assentient consummation, the pros and cons of affirmatory fill in the workplace and in the educational system, and proposition 209. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy was the first to use affirmative action. The Civil Rights be active of 1964 barred discrimination by universities or others that accredited federal assistance (Cummings, p. 192).After it came the Voting forge of 1965, Immigration Act of 1965, The Fa ir Housing Act of 1968 (Nieli, p. ). In 1978, President Carter created the Office of national Contract Compliance Program (OFCCP) to ensure compliance with the affirmative action policies by the department of labor (Brown). Also in 1978 was the Bakke v. Reagents of the University of calcium, where Supreme appeal upheld that use of race as one factor in choosing among adequate applicants for admission and reserving certain seats in each entering discriminate of students for disadvantaged minorities were un rightful.Affirmative action began to go downhill and fading out during the presidency of Ronald Reagan and later George Bush. The republicans in the White House and in social intercourse ignored the affirmative action. Finally to the presidency of Bill Clinton, the republicans were attempting to scare hoi polloi into changing their party lines by saying that affirmative action is nobody more than a quota or reverse discrimination (Brown). Just by watching the history of thi s issue, one can come to a expiration that weve come a long way in regards to racial and sexual urge discrimination.Affirmative action programs offer individuals such as women and minorities a pretend at equal employment opportunities and representation through positive, results-oriented practices that purposely take race and gender into account (Anniston). In the work force, minorities and women are fountain of cheap labor. The employers higher them to work with very infinitesimal pay and little or no benefits. Higher paying channels were always filled with smock males. Even when women wanted to be as successful as that of men, they had a limit hanging over their head called the glass-ceiling.But through affirmative action, women and minorities were able to excite higher paying jobs and plain promotions and some even going up to the master copy jobs. For example, women begin made significant come about in recent year in 1963, women earned fifty-nine cents for every(pre nominal) dollar earned by men. Today, women earn on average 71 cents for every dollar earned by men (Curry, p. 179). Affirmative action may reduce racial tautness forcing people to interact unneurotic and work as a unit in a professional and intellectual level across racial lines (Lewis).This program gives the minorities the opportunity to critical point the competition in the white American society and to defy the stigmas and stereotypes puff upon them by others. Some people believe that affirmative action is aggrieve because it discriminates. For example, and employer hires anyone because he/she is a nonage, even if someone else is more qualified for the job. In this case, the employer is not discriminating against the minorities but against the majorities.Some also argue that affirmative action programs incite racial tension (Lewis). Since employers are very natural about affirmative action programs and if a white male is more qualified for the job than the minority, i t may stir up some tension bet stimulaten those people involved. And because of the tension, the employers are more likely to higher a minority, who is less qualified for the job. By doing so, the employers may have a judgement that they are left with the short end of the stick and a lesser quality worker (Wit).If a workplace made decisions on hiring and promoting on the basis of ethnicity, such a workplace would go under. Decisions make in workplace should be merit-base the eligibility and quality of the employee, not race-base. The outcome of the case of Allen Bakke v. Reagents of the University of California in 1974, helped many minorities to go into college. Allan Bakke had applied for medical school in University of California at Davis in 1973 and in 1974 and was rejected because they only line up aside 16 seats for minorities each year.He sued contending that he had been excluded on the basis of his race in violation of the Constitution and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Cum mings, p. 193). The California Supreme butterfly called the act of the university unconstitutional and Bakke won on with other minorities who could not get into college. In the case of Brown v. dialog box of Education of Topeka, Kansas in 1954, the Supreme Court ruled that although the physical factors and real(a) factors may be equal in public school systems, the children of the minority group were deprived of the equal education.Therefore they are deprived of the equal protection of the practice of laws guaranteed by the fourteenth amendment (Cummings, p. 182). Even though the compliance of this law was very slow, eventually all realms complied with the law and made public school available to the minorities. By 1969, all the public schools in the country were attempt to comply with the law. The history of the campaign against racial injustice since 1954, when the Supreme Court decided Brown v. Board of Education, is a history in a large part of failure (Nieli p. 79).The law may have verbalise to put an end to segregation and racism in public schools, but even now, the racism and the segregation motionless live in the patrol wagon of American people. In 1979, the case was reopened because even twenty-five years later, schools were still segregated. Affirmative action is supposed to treat everyone as equals. But real and in reality, it does not treat everyone with equality. When admitting a person to a college, in the registration form, it asks what race the person is.If it were to treat everyone equally, it wouldnt ask that question. And because of the affirmative action law and trying to comply with it, the colleges will pick a minority, who may not be as qualified, to attend the school, therefore lowering the threadbare of the school to match that persons standard. The standards for all the people should be the same no matter what. bid 209 was proposed by Californians that wanted to outlaw programs based on affirmative action. It was passed by a narrow margin in the November 5,1996.Proposition abolished all public sector affirmative action programs in the state in employment, education and contracting. It also permits gender discrimination that is reasonably incumbent to the normal operation of public education, employment and contracting. This proposition means that people should not have special privileges on the basis of their race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in any kind of public services where its funded by the government. In regards to the affirmative action issue, this proposition makes it hard for people to get hired just because they are a minority.The proposition tries to bring residue between all the people not on the basis of their minority or majority but on their merits. When I first started this research, I only did it because the subject was well known and easy to find. After conclusion the research, my opinion towards affirmative action was swayed a little. I first apprehension that aff irmative action was an absolute good that helps the minorities of the community to have the equal opportunity as that of others. But now, I feel that affirmative action itself was contributing to discrimination.It was discrimination against those who were more qualified in a job or in a college who couldnt get in because there was a minority and the rule had to be bent a little to accede those minorities. I believe that the standards should be the same for all people and the law shouldnt be bent just because a minority couldnt keep u with the standards of the society. If the person is not qualified for the field, then they shouldnt be hired, because if they were, theyre robbing another wee qualified person their job and the opportunity to achieve their goal and do their best.It may be the case that a minority, picked over the more qualified person, might quit or get fired because they were way in over their heads. Affirmative action should not be something that the society would ha ve to abide to. It should be a reference to when there are conflicts among controversial issues that is related to discrimination on workplace or in educational system. I believe that in the society that we live in, discrimination should be something that of the past. To believe in racism and discrimination against minorities, just wouldnt be America.