Name

Course

Course Instructor

Date

Affirmative Action

Affirmative action, which was introduced by President Kennedy, has raised hot debate from various individuals ranging from provocative researchers, scholars, politicians as well as the judiciary. Affirmative action plays an integral part in eliminating the numerous discriminations and unfairness experienced almost everywhere across the world in various set ups. It acts as the best tool of fighting racial, ethnic and gender inequalities and was first used in 1960s (Debate.org Web). It is undeniable that affirmative action has proved to be a very effective tool in redressing several injustices experienced in the past and even currently against the disadvantaged group.

The federal government, state governments and other relevant institutions have strongly step forward in improving the opportunities for the minorities and even women have now been given preference than before. According to “Debate.org” special consideration for the disadvantaged group and levelling the playing ground for the groups in various factors including public service composition and government contracting decisions (Web).

Giving preferential treatment to minorities is not an easy task and its success has not been achieved in as much as policies were put in place several decades ago to give the disadvantaged a boost. However, the diversity of the current society attempts to indicate some elements of success making some people argue that the policies are no longer needed as they trigger many problems. One of the outstanding examples was the issue regarding the University of Michigan admissions criteria of rating potential applicants on a point system. Minority students got double points in achieving a perfect SAT score as the school official argued that diversity was significant and affirmative action was the best thing to do (Brownstein Web). There are indeed various other court decisions and events regarding affirmative action experienced by almost everyone across America and globally.

Although various countries describe affirmative action in numerous terms, the concept still remains unchanged which is of ensuring that the minority groups are fully represented in various institutions, employment decisions, admission to educational organizations and many other vital arenas where affirmative action is deemed effective. There is likeliness in that even the disadvantaged group have equal opportunity to succeed just like the so called advantaged group though not fully confirmed because of the affirmative action.

Looking at the institution of affirmative action, it is undeniable that it arose due to particular assessment of past injustices in a nation. According to American Civil Liberties Union affirmative action has always been meant to provide a vital compensatory measure in cultures and groups, which have experienced a past discrimination or denying them opportunities based on their economic disadvantage brought about by their race and or national origin (Web). Restoration of complete equality amongst various races has been widely practiced in numerous countries although it has received almost equal criticism. The lines of argument have continuously been changing since its conception and the social and demographic demography context has been transformed into a more complex and consequential manner.

According to Brunner and Rowen, affirmative action has had major milestones that involved allocation of resources and jobs to disadvantaged groups since 1960s to the latest cases witnessed in the courts (Web). In March 6, 1961,the executive order 10925 made the initial reference to affirmative action which was issued by President JF Kennedy to create the Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity and mandated that all the government funded projects take affirmative action. Executive Order 10925 was to eliminate discrimination against hiring and employment practices based on race. In July 2 1964, Civil Rights Act was signed by President Lyndon Johnson prohibiting biasness based on race, colour, religion, or even national origin. This marked as the most effective and sweeping civil rights bill after the Reconstruction and was believed to greatly eliminate discrimination of various kinds.

UClIrvine explains that President Johnson further gave a defining concept of affirmative action on June 4, 1965 to the graduating class at Howard University where he posits that civil rights alone could not be enough to eliminate biasness (Web). He later issued Order 11246, which was meant to reinforce affirmative action for the first time where contractors were required to take responsible and non-discriminatory measures while hiring. Additionally, there was the 1969 Philadelphia Order that was initiated by President Richard Nixon to guarantee fairness in construction jobs since construction constituted several offenders against equal opportunity laws.

The regents of the University of California v. Bakke in June 28, 1978 were a landmark Supreme Court case that enforced restraint on affirmative action. It was argued that offering opportunity to the disadvantaged groups was not supposed to be enacted at the expense of the majority and that affirmative action triggered reverse discrimination. The University of California, Davis and Medical School had different admission pools including the pool for standard applicants and the other for minority as well as the economically disadvantaged groups. It was noted that Allan Bakke who was a white applicant was twice rejected despite some minority groups being admitted regardless of their lower scores compared to Bakke’s. According to the Supreme Court ruling, judging Bakke based on race was not good because the white race was a legitimate factor in school admissions (UClIrvine Web).

According to Beattie the cases of affirmative action have been continuous throughout the years and courts still battle with the issues from time to time (761-762). Fullilove v. Klutznick, Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education, United States v. Paradise, City of Richmond v. Croson, White House guidelines on affirmative action, Florida bans race as factor in college admissions, Supreme Court Upholds Affirmative Action in University Admissions and Ballot Measure to Ban Affirmative Action Goes before Voters are amongst the cases. The latest incident where issues of affirmative action were touched was in June 24, 2014 when Court ordered University of Texas to re-examine affirmative action policy making the decision appear as if it is a compromise between the court’s conservative and liberal factions.

According to Parker, race based college admissions is still a debatable issues and some critics argue that affirmative action is not important in this times of Obama presidency. Parker explains that other criticizers think that affirmative action would leads to discrimination against the white race. White students are denied opportunities to access education in some institutions simply because they do not fall under the minority group such as the people of colour. Currently there are issues regarding whether the affirmative action should c0oncentrate on race or socioeconomic issues and whether the learning institutions should continue with their admission policies or drop them (Parker Web). The fruits of affirmative action are evident across various learning institutions where minority students enrol in large numbers. Nevertheless, it is important to take note of the quality of education offered in those institutions. As much as minority group is apportioned a good percentage and are allowed in public learning institutions, there should be improved quality of services (Hodgman Web).

Indeed, affirmative action has contributed to numerous transformations across the world and has provided a good remedy for education and jobs. The disadvantaged groups have had their fair share for their sweat and unrelenting push to eliminate various forms of discriminations. Although affirmative action cases are experienced, a lot of effort has been vested to bring normalcy and fairness amongst the disadvantaged groups. It can however, be argued that the majority groups have somehow been disadvantaged since they can no longer enjoy all the goodies that resulted from discrimination. For example, affirmative action has empowered the black race to have almost equal opportunity to attend school, secure jobs, get promotion and earn similar amount of salary with a white person in the same job position. This is indeed positive but the question is what is the percentage of the whites are denied opportunity to learn into a particular institution or secure a job due to affirmative action?

Works Cited

American Civil Liberties Union. Affirmative Action: The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU Foundation, 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. <https://www.aclu.org/racial-justice/affirmative-action>.

Beattie, Brett, et al. “Affirmative Action for the Future.” Contemporary Sociology 39.6 (2010): 761-2. ProQuest. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. <http://search.proquest.com/business/docview/815416183/141EFEAD5B1341E604A/4?accountid=45049>.

Brownstein, Ronald. Why This Affirmative Action Debate Is Different. National Journal, 30 May, 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.<http://www.nationaljournal.com/columns/political-connections/why-this-affirmative-action-debate-is-different-20130530>.

Brunner and Rowen. Timeline of Affirmative Action Milestones. Infoplease, 2007. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. <http://www.infoplease.com/spot/affirmativetimeline1.html>.

Debate.org. Affirmative Action Debate: History and Debate of Affirmative Action, 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. <http://www.debate.org/affirmative-action-debate/>.

Hodgman, Matthew R. “The College Access Debate: Class Considerations and College Preparation.” Journal of College Teaching & Learning (Online) 10.1 (2013): 63. ProQuest. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. <http://search.proquest.com/business/docview/1418715759/141EFEAD5B1341E604A/11?accountid=45049>.

Parker, Zachary. The Decades-Long Affirmative Action Debate is Incomplete. Huffington Post, 7 Oct. 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/zachary-parker/the-decadeslong-affirmati_b_3575653.html>.

UClIrvine. Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity. University of California, 5 March 2010. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. <http://www.oeod.uci.edu/aa.html>.

Name

Course

Course Instructor

Date

Affirmative Action

Affirmative action, which was introduced by President Kennedy, has raised hot debate from various individuals ranging from provocative researchers, scholars, politicians as well as the judiciary. Affirmative action plays an integral part in eliminating the numerous discriminations and unfairness experienced almost everywhere across the world in various set ups. It acts as the best tool of fighting racial, ethnic and gender inequalities and was first used in 1960s (Debate.org Web). It is undeniable that affirmative action has proved to be a very effective tool in redressing several injustices experienced in the past and even currently against the disadvantaged group.

The federal government, state governments and other relevant institutions have strongly step forward in improving the opportunities for the minorities and even women have now been given preference than before. According to “Debate.org” special consideration for the disadvantaged group and levelling the playing ground for the groups in various factors including public service composition and government contracting decisions (Web).

Giving preferential treatment to minorities is not an easy task and its success has not been achieved in as much as policies were put in place several decades ago to give the disadvantaged a boost. However, the diversity of the current society attempts to indicate some elements of success making some people argue that the policies are no longer needed as they trigger many problems. One of the outstanding examples was the issue regarding the University of Michigan admissions criteria of rating potential applicants on a point system. Minority students got double points in achieving a perfect SAT score as the school official argued that diversity was significant and affirmative action was the best thing to do (Brownstein Web). There are indeed various other court decisions and events regarding affirmative action experienced by almost everyone across America and globally.

Although various countries describe affirmative action in numerous terms, the concept still remains unchanged which is of ensuring that the minority groups are fully represented in various institutions, employment decisions, admission to educational organizations and many other vital arenas where affirmative action is deemed effective. There is likeliness in that even the disadvantaged group have equal opportunity to succeed just like the so called advantaged group though not fully confirmed because of the affirmative action.

Looking at the institution of affirmative action, it is undeniable that it arose due to particular assessment of past injustices in a nation. According to American Civil Liberties Union affirmative action has always been meant to provide a vital compensatory measure in cultures and groups, which have experienced a past discrimination or denying them opportunities based on their economic disadvantage brought about by their race and or national origin (Web). Restoration of complete equality amongst various races has been widely practiced in numerous countries although it has received almost equal criticism. The lines of argument have continuously been changing since its conception and the social and demographic demography context has been transformed into a more complex and consequential manner.

According to Brunner and Rowen, affirmative action has had major milestones that involved allocation of resources and jobs to disadvantaged groups since 1960s to the latest cases witnessed in the courts (Web). In March 6, 1961,the executive order 10925 made the initial reference to affirmative action which was issued by President JF Kennedy to create the Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity and mandated that all the government funded projects take affirmative action. Executive Order 10925 was to eliminate discrimination against hiring and employment practices based on race. In July 2 1964, Civil Rights Act was signed by President Lyndon Johnson prohibiting biasness based on race, colour, religion, or even national origin. This marked as the most effective and sweeping civil rights bill after the Reconstruction and was believed to greatly eliminate discrimination of various kinds.

UClIrvine explains that President Johnson further gave a defining concept of affirmative action on June 4, 1965 to the graduating class at Howard University where he posits that civil rights alone could not be enough to eliminate biasness (Web). He later issued Order 11246, which was meant to reinforce affirmative action for the first time where contractors were required to take responsible and non-discriminatory measures while hiring. Additionally, there was the 1969 Philadelphia Order that was initiated by President Richard Nixon to guarantee fairness in construction jobs since construction constituted several offenders against equal opportunity laws.

The regents of the University of California v. Bakke in June 28, 1978 were a landmark Supreme Court case that enforced restraint on affirmative action. It was argued that offering opportunity to the disadvantaged groups was not supposed to be enacted at the expense of the majority and that affirmative action triggered reverse discrimination. The University of California, Davis and Medical School had different admission pools including the pool for standard applicants and the other for minority as well as the economically disadvantaged groups. It was noted that Allan Bakke who was a white applicant was twice rejected despite some minority groups being admitted regardless of their lower scores compared to Bakke’s. According to the Supreme Court ruling, judging Bakke based on race was not good because the white race was a legitimate factor in school admissions (UClIrvine Web).

According to Beattie the cases of affirmative action have been continuous throughout the years and courts still battle with the issues from time to time (761-762). Fullilove v. Klutznick, Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education, United States v. Paradise, City of Richmond v. Croson, White House guidelines on affirmative action, Florida bans race as factor in college admissions, Supreme Court Upholds Affirmative Action in University Admissions and Ballot Measure to Ban Affirmative Action Goes before Voters are amongst the cases. The latest incident where issues of affirmative action were touched was in June 24, 2014 when Court ordered University of Texas to re-examine affirmative action policy making the decision appear as if it is a compromise between the court’s conservative and liberal factions.

According to Parker, race based college admissions is still a debatable issues and some critics argue that affirmative action is not important in this times of Obama presidency. Parker explains that other criticizers think that affirmative action would leads to discrimination against the white race. White students are denied opportunities to access education in some institutions simply because they do not fall under the minority group such as the people of colour. Currently there are issues regarding whether the affirmative action should c0oncentrate on race or socioeconomic issues and whether the learning institutions should continue with their admission policies or drop them (Parker Web). The fruits of affirmative action are evident across various learning institutions where minority students enrol in large numbers. Nevertheless, it is important to take note of the quality of education offered in those institutions. As much as minority group is apportioned a good percentage and are allowed in public learning institutions, there should be improved quality of services (Hodgman Web).

Indeed, affirmative action has contributed to numerous transformations across the world and has provided a good remedy for education and jobs. The disadvantaged groups have had their fair share for their sweat and unrelenting push to eliminate various forms of discriminations. Although affirmative action cases are experienced, a lot of effort has been vested to bring normalcy and fairness amongst the disadvantaged groups. It can however, be argued that the majority groups have somehow been disadvantaged since they can no longer enjoy all the goodies that resulted from discrimination. For example, affirmative action has empowered the black race to have almost equal opportunity to attend school, secure jobs, get promotion and earn similar amount of salary with a white person in the same job position. This is indeed positive but the question is what is the percentage of the whites are denied opportunity to learn into a particular institution or secure a job due to affirmative action?

Works Cited

American Civil Liberties Union. Affirmative Action: The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU Foundation, 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. <https://www.aclu.org/racial-justice/affirmative-action>.

Beattie, Brett, et al. “Affirmative Action for the Future.” Contemporary Sociology 39.6 (2010): 761-2. ProQuest. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. <http://search.proquest.com/business/docview/815416183/141EFEAD5B1341E604A/4?accountid=45049>.

Brownstein, Ronald. Why This Affirmative Action Debate Is Different. National Journal, 30 May, 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.<http://www.nationaljournal.com/columns/political-connections/why-this-affirmative-action-debate-is-different-20130530>.

Brunner and Rowen. Timeline of Affirmative Action Milestones. Infoplease, 2007. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. <http://www.infoplease.com/spot/affirmativetimeline1.html>.

Debate.org. Affirmative Action Debate: History and Debate of Affirmative Action, 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. <http://www.debate.org/affirmative-action-debate/>.

Hodgman, Matthew R. “The College Access Debate: Class Considerations and College Preparation.” Journal of College Teaching & Learning (Online) 10.1 (2013): 63. ProQuest. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. <http://search.proquest.com/business/docview/1418715759/141EFEAD5B1341E604A/11?accountid=45049>.

Parker, Zachary. The Decades-Long Affirmative Action Debate is Incomplete. Huffington Post, 7 Oct. 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/zachary-parker/the-decadeslong-affirmati_b_3575653.html>.

UClIrvine. Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity. University of California, 5 March 2010. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. <http://www.oeod.uci.edu/aa.html>.