Essay about The Many Benefits of Affirmative Action

The Benefits of Affirmative Action Affirmative action has helped the income, promotion and labor force participation rates of both women and minorities. For example, between 1982 and 1995, the percentage of female managers and professionals in the U.S. rose from 40.5 to 48.0 percent; blacks from 5.5 to 7.5 percent, and Hispanics from 5.2 to 7.6 percent. By comparison, these groups form 51.2 percent, 12.6 percent, and 10.2 percent of the population, respectively. Progress has been steady, but still incomplete. Many critics of affirmative action believe it has failed to achieve its stated goal of equal employment opportunity. A few even believe that it has done more harm than good. A review of the statistics, however, shows†¦show more content†¦Thus it is not enough just to open the gates of opportunity. All our citizens must have the ability to walk through those gates†¦ Not long afterwards, Johnson signed an order to promote the full realization of equal employment opportunity through a positive, continuing program†¦ (2) In 1967, this order was expanded to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex. In 1971, the Department of Labor under Richard Nixon issued an order requiring all federal contractors to develop an acceptable affirmative action program, including an analysis of areas within which the contractor is deficient in the utilization of minority groups and women, and further, goals and timetables to which the contractors good faith efforts must be directed to correct the deficiencies. (3) By now, affirmative action goals had become the full-fledged policy of U.S. government contracting. The results of affirmative action A 1995 study by Murrell and Jones found that affirmative action has increased the representation of women and minorities across all levels of employment in the U.S. and within organizations that were once exclusively male. They also found it resulted in higher employment participation rates,Show MoreRelatedLegal Aspect of Affirmative Action Essay1288 Words   |  6 PagesAffirmative action programs are often misunderstood. Each person has their own idea of what affirmative action really entails. This paper will provide an overview of the legal aspect of affirmative action. The differences between affirmative action programs and equal opportunity legislation will be explained. The positive arguments will be presented along with the negative arguments. The affects affirmative action has on the society of the United States will be analyzed. Finally the reactionsRead MoreThe Precedency: Supporting the Affrimative Action Essay1486 Words   |  6 PagesAffirmative action is a gove rnment 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 Is The Most Important Modern Anti Discrimination1578 Words   |  7 PagesColumbia in the United States of America once said that â€Å"affirmative action is the most important modern anti-discrimination technique ever instituted in the United States. It is the one tool that has had a demonstrable effect on discrimination. 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In his essay, Sandel asks whether itRead MoreAffirmative Action Programs Should Be Legal1576 Words   |  7 PagesKennedy issued Executive Order 10925, introducing the phrase â€Å"affirmative action.† A few years later, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued Executive Order 11246, which prohibited discrimination based on race, color and religion. Although there were no specific policies that require colleges and universities to use affirmative action programs, they voluntarily gave advantages to minorities and women in the admission process. Affirmative action programs were firs t challenged in Regents of the UniversityRead MoreAffirmative Action : The Case For Abolition1638 Words   |  7 PagesAffirmative Action: The Case for Abolishment America is founded on the belief that all citizens are free to pursue their ambitions regardless of race, color, creed, or national origin. Yet, for the last fifty years, Affirmative Action has created an educational and work environment less focused on equality and more focused on ethnicity. There is no benefit for the United States to enforce Affirmative Action for minorities in educational and employment opportunities and equal treatment, because itRead MoreCollege Admissions Vs. Affirmative Action1536 Words   |  7 Pageshave protested the use of affirmative action in admissions decisions because they believe the policy gives an unfair and unearned advantage to minorities (Affirmative Action). Though concerns over the whimsical nature of college admissions may be valid, admissions officers should still consider race as a factor in their decisions because elimination of the affirmative action policy is not an effective way to make the admissions process less arbitrary. Affirmative action has been a topic of publicRead MoreThe Unethical Nature of Affirmative Action Essay1729 Words   |  7 Pagesfor the white. Yes, it does bring good results, but it is not ethical. Affirmative action in itself is racist. There are many reasons why affirmative action in favor of ethnic minorities is racist. First of all, it violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discriminating against the white. Equal opportunities denotes that no one is to receive special consideration based on ethnic background, but by affirmative action, people of color get a head start in the selection process. Second, racialRead More Its Time to Put and End to Affirmative Action Essay1586 Words   |  7 Pages Affirmative action should be changed or ended altogether In the late Sixties, Martin Luther King Jr. fought hard for equal rights. Before he was assassinated in 1968, he made a speech about his vision of human equality. â€Å"I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.† (King) The Sixties were a turning point for racial equality. Because of leaders like King, many blacks and minority