Affirmative Action Social Policy - 1348 Words

Affirmative Action Affirmative action is a social policy created to promote the welfare of minorities by supporting the idea that individuals are all created equal and should not be judged by race or gender. Therefore, in situations like job and university applications, we should consider minorities to be as feasible a choice for hire as a white male candidate, taking into consideration their background. In short, it tries to give minorities that have been at a disadvantage their whole life, an opportunity to ‘equal the playing field by providing a broader context by which to measure an applicant or prospective employee. In the end, however, this goal is not realized. Instead, superficial ‘quotas are established and the†¦show more content†¦Formal, colorblind equality has to be infringed now if we are ever to achieve real, meaningful racial and sexual quality. Unfortunately however, just like a firefighter may not fight fire with fire, you also cannot fight discrim ination with even more discrimination. The U.S. Constitution, our most powerful and sacred document that holds all the power in the government, is intended to be colorblind. The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees No state shallÂ… deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of laws. Affirmative action seems to be unconstitutional as it ignores the phrase equal protection. Instead of treating minorities like equals, it treats them like they are better than other members of society and, in particular, puts white males in a situational disadvantage like minorities once were. In effect, it s a form of reverse discrimination. Discrimination is discrimination, no matter what the underlying motive justifying it is. The final argument against affirmative action is this: Nondiscrimination will achieve our social goals; stronger affirmative action is unnecessary. This argument suggests that the Civil Rights Act is enough to end job and schoolShow MoreRela tedAffirmative Action : An Unfair Tool For Disadvantaged Minority Students857 Words   |  4 PagesAffirmative Action admission policies have been highly criticized since their enactment in the 1960’s. Conservatives see affirmative action as an unfair tool for underachieving minority students rather than a policy to correct past racial inequalities and promote a diverse learning environment. This ideology of affirmative action is portrayed in Jim Huber’s political cartoon, number 1 on the list. Penned for a conservative audience, Huber’s political cartoon argues against affirmative action by suggestingRead MoreAffirmative Action : Discrimination And Discrimination927 Words   |  4 PagesLegally, affirmative action refers to policies offering compensation to groups formerly targeted for discrimination and identified along social cleavages racial groups in the United States and South Africa, and religious groups in Northern Ireland. Affirmative action is also d escribed as a federally mandated program for federal contractors as it relates to employment. Civil Right results from federal and state laws against discrimination. Some groups of people have been discriminated and harassmentRead MoreRace Based Affirmative Action On Higher Education Essay1445 Words   |  6 PagesRace-Based Affirmative Action in Higher Education In 1961, President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 10925, which created the Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity, or CEEO. One purpose of the CEEO was to â€Å"recommend additional affirmative steps which should be taken by executive departments and agencies to realize more fully the national policy of nondiscrimination† (Kennedy). This executive order planted the seeds that grew into what is today known as â€Å"race-based affirmative action,† or theRead MoreAffirmative Action : Discrimination And Discrimination910 Words   |  4 PagesFirst affirmative action refers to policies offering compensation to groups formerly targeted for discrimination and identified along social cleavages - racial groups in the United States and South Africa, and religious groups in Northern Ireland. Affirmative action is a federally mandated program for federal contractors as it relates to employment. Civil rights result from a series of federal and state civil rights laws and provide protection from discrimination and harassment on a variety of basesRead MoreArgumentation-Persuasion Essay Affirmative Action1494 Words   |  6 PagesArgumentation-Persuasion Essay Affirmative Action Ronald Spears 16 March 2012 Constitution Law Bonnie Ronson Wiregrass Tech. College Online Abstract: The terms affirmative action refer to policies that take race, ethnicity, or gender into consideration in an attempt to promote equal opportunity or increase ethnic or other forms of diversity. The focus of such policies ranges from employment and education to public contracting and health programs. The impetus towards affirmative action is twofold: toRead MoreUnderlying Reasons for Affirmative Action1442 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction The issue of affirmative action has existed for around forty years, but the Wall Street Journal reports that the idea may be coming to an end (Sander Taylor, 2012). The reason for this is that while the idea of affirmative action originated for positive reasons, it has also had some negative side effects. In light of the possibility that affirmative actions are unwound, it is necessary to consider what might happen if that were to occur. This essay will consider precisely that issueRead MoreAffirmative Actions1078 Words   |  5 PagesRunning Head: AFFERMATIVE ACTION Affirmative Actions Affirmative action is an action taken by an organization to select on the basis of race, gender, or ethnicity by giving due preferences to minorities like women and races being not adequately represented under the existing employment. To make the presentation of all these compositions almost equal in proportion to do away the injustice done in the past. The Supreme Company need to design an affirmative action program in the light ofRead MoreThe Precedency: Supporting the Affrimative Action Essay1486 Words   |  6 PagesAffirmative action is a government policy that gives opportunities to minorities, women, and any group who has been the victim of discrimination in the past. Affirmative action is the outcome of the 1960’s Civil Rights movement, growing out of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which outlawed discrimination based on race, ethnicity, or gender. It was the 1978 Supreme Court decision, The Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, which allowed for the use of race-based preferences as a means ofRead MoreAffirmative Action : Discrimination Against Minorities1513 Words   |  7 PagesOthmane Ezzabdi AP Seminar Affirmative Action Affirmative action has been apart of the work environment in America since the 1960s until present time. Its main goal has been to suppress the discrimination against minorities and to give them a fighting chance to succeed in achieving their goal of living the American dream all in an act to counter the inexcusable racism and discrimination that has been inhumanely placed on to the minorities over a century ago in the United States; it will ultimatelyRead MoreAn Argument Against Affirmative Action Essay1716 Words   |  7 PagesPaved with Good Intentions: An Argument Against Affirmative Action Out of the jaws of civil war, the new United States had emerged. Broken and burning and minus 620,000 men, a new challenge lay before the nation: social equality. How would we address the sickening grievances endured by these African American now-citizens? That question has hallmarked fiery debates from dinner tables all the way to the Supreme Court for more than a century. During the Civil Rights Movement, millions of American citizens