Unfairness In The Civil Right Movement

Have you ever felt you have been treated unfairly at work or even in school? Did you feel this unfairness was because of the color of your skin or with whom you were associated? Oftentimes, one can feel they are being discriminated against because of the way they look or the group of people they choose to call their “friends.” Around the time of the 1960’s Civil Right Movement, the government decided they needed to come up with a plan to provide equal access to all people, primarily when it came to jobs and schooling. Thus, the policies that were called “affirmative action” were born. First a brief history will be provided to better understand why affirmative action plans were established and why they were needed.
Before the Civil Right Movement, the South experienced a lot of segregation and unfair treatment toward minority groups and women. For example, African Americans were not allowed to attend the same school or churches as …show more content…
According to NCES (2012), throughout the last decade of the 2000s, the enrollment of women in college was steady, with approximately 60% of all associate and baccalaureate degrees were awarded to women. Also in the same amount of time, the number of associate's degrees earned by Hispanic students more than doubled (increasing by 118 percent), and the number earned by Black students increased by 89 percent. (NCES, 2012)
Even though, discrimination based on color of skin or gender has been helped tremendously through affirmative action plans, do these plans create problems for today’s world when it comes to jobs or going to college? This paper will explore the benefits and challenges of affirmative action policies for all people, regardless of gender, race, or ethnicity. Are qualified job applicants simply turned away if they do not contribute to the diversity of the organization? Is the most qualified always chosen for the job?
The Positive