Why Do People Support Affirmative Action?

Improved Essays
Affirmative action has received a variety of reactions since its inception on March 6, 1961. This order instituted a policy of “positive discrimination” where members of a disadvantaged group are favored more than their “advantaged” counterparts. This order allows race to be a factor in the university selection process. This mandate has caused heavy debate between people who support the bill and those who oppose it. Generally, people who support affirmative action have humanitarian motives. These people want to rectify the negative effects caused by discrimination in the past. Race is one of the factors that can be used to accept applicants during a applicant selection process. While race can be used as a factor, racial quotas are not permitted

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Second, it is certain that affirmative action has benefited a group of people more than others. Initially, affirmative action was meant for federal contractors. Although, they were supposed to employee people without regards to their race, color, or national origin, studies have shown “that affirmative action helps white woman” (Nittle) more than women or men of color. In the Supreme Court case of Abigail Fisher versus the University of Texas, ironically, she is the type of person affirmative action benefits the most. But the ban of affirmative action has not always been a disadvantage for all minorities.…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Argument of Strong Affirmative Action Between Hettinger and Pojman After the era of the Civil Rights Movement swept how people think, Americans and business have tried to find ways in order to help promote diversity and equality into establishments such as the workforce and higher education. One of the ways that America has decided to do this is by promoting affirmative Action. Affirmative action a policy favoring those who tend to suffer from discrimination, also know as positive discrimination. We encounter two authors that both seem to have different opinions on the view of affirmative action. Edwin C. Hettinger is on the side calling affirmative action “reverse racism” itself suggests that it is discrimination: discrimination towards…

    • 1047 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    President John F. Kennedy initially took Affirmative Action to ensure the equality for all races mainly for jobs and educational institutions. He did this through his Executive Order 10925, which is known as Affirmative Action. This policy asserts that in jobs and educational institutions, racial preferences will be used in their admissions process. While proponents of Affirmative Action claim that levels of diversity in college campuses increase with Affirmative Action, the reality is that many underrepresented minority students are being mismatched into the colleges and universities, ultimately leading them to a path of failure and because of this, there will be less underrepresented minorities (or URMs for the purpose of this) graduating…

    • 1999 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Affirmative Action Case Study

    • 1561 Words
    • 7 Pages
    • 4 Works Cited

    As it is now, it facilitates the entrance to college to minorities of the higher classes. In its current form, affirmative action is well intentioned, but it is rather ineffective, and it sets itself up for causing a stir among whites who feel that minority status is taking precedent over academic performance, and calling this practice reverse discrimination. The case against the University of Michigan is a prime example of this. But William Symonds has a solution that would not only allow for more racial integration, but with race not playing a big role, if any roll at all in being a factor in deciding college admissions. Basing affirmative action off of financial need, with the money provided for the less fortunate to attend four-year universities would not only draw from the pool of minorities that make up a large portion of the lower classes, it would also give everyone a truly equal opportunity to attend college.…

    • 1561 Words
    • 7 Pages
    • 4 Works Cited
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Affirmative action is the act of hiring or encouraging the promotion of minorities, often dealing with race. Many colleges across the United States offer “minority scholarships”. This is a form of affirmative action. These schools offer scholarships to the lesser common with the hopes of creating a more diverse atmosphere. Colleges should not only accept those of solely one race.…

    • 543 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jfk Affirmative Action

    • 390 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Affirmative action is one of the different actions that deal with racial inequality problems. In 1961, President Kennedy first introduced affirmative action to America, according to Ford and Whiting (122). Affirmative action’s target is to reduce and eventually put an end to the discriminations in education, employment, advocate racial diversity, remedy mistakes and eliminate barriers toward equality (Ford and Whiting, 121). One of its important goals is achieving educational equity.…

    • 390 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IS RACE BASED PREFERENCE One of the most controversial topics in higher education concerns affirmative action. It has been a subject of endless debates among those who are pro affirmative action or against it. Citing the positive and negative effects of this policy. But what is affirmative action? The term affirmative action means ensuring opportunities and access in areas of education and employment to minority groups and or disadvantaged race.…

    • 1427 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Affirmative action, by definition, is an action or policy favoring those who tend to suffer from discrimination, especially in relation to employment or education. Using varying instruments and policies, Affirmative Action aims to help underrepresented groups have a better job opportunities or college admissions. Generations of people have been disadvantaged by institutionalized discrimination and one way to remedy this is to place a policy that evens out the playing field. There has been numerous legal cases against affirmative action concerning college admissions, and a few have made it as far as the Supreme Court including Bakke v. Regents, Univ. of California (1978), Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), Parents Involved v. Seattle School District (2007), and most recently Fisher v. University of Texas (2013 & 2016).…

    • 992 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Affirmative Action policies have stirred debate about fairness of favoring certain groups over others. The most controversial part of these programs is their use of minimal levels of required minority participation. “Affirmative action policies are those in which an institution or organization actively engages in efforts to improve opportunities for historically excluded groups in American society”ncsl. Affirmative Action has left many people out in the cold, it allows people to be chosen by looks over skills .The term Affirmative Action was first used in the United States in "Executive Order No.10925", signed by President John F. Kennedy on 6 March 1961, which is to ensure that applicants are employed, and employees are treated during employment,…

    • 1252 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There are a few reasons why people support affirmative action. First off they wish to switch the negative impacts brought on to the people by years of ¨separation¨of origins . They also want to verify minorities are being represented in schools and in the workforce they want all Americans to receive a fair chance at a job. One thing they do to make it a bit easier for people to get a job is to putting reachable requirements for those of whom want to apply for a job of a manager or supervisor. Supporters of Affirmative action also want to make an equivalent open door to everyone by helping those whom have a disadvantage.…

    • 441 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Affirmative Action is defined as “an action or policy favoring those who tend to suffer from discrimination, especially in relation to employment or education; positive discrimination.” Both articles I read “Affirmative Action and Higher Education” and “Achieving Diversity on Campus”. While both ladies argue a valid point everyone and every school will have different options on the matter. Whether or not it is a positive or negative on the educational community is unknown since we all have prejudices one way or another. With Affirmative Action people, have been drawn to areas of work and study that they may never consider because its outside of their gender or racial norms.…

    • 288 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Affirmative action is the policy of increasing representation of minorities in areas such as employment, education, and culture which they have been historically excluded. These policies often involve preferential selection, affirmative action thus generates intense controversy. I will evaluate affirmative action in one of the most widely debated areas of minorities in university admissions in the States using GR-type reasoning. University admissions initiated affirmative action in the 1970s due to the lack of the disadvantaged minorities within the student body, especially the African-Americans. Few of these blacks met the criteria to enter universities with their low test scores.…

    • 1139 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Affirmative action policies allow for equal opportunity and throughout history have helped end discrimination in the workforce as well as many different type of organizations. Minorities are given the opportunity to compete for job opportunities and admissions to educational institutions. However, not everyone agrees with these types of policies and believe that this is a form of “reverse discrimination” against white individuals (1). These individuals argue that minorities that include people of color and women are given preference and although the qualifications may be the same amongst all, the minorities will be granted the opportunity simply because of their skin color or gender. In “Affirmative Action and Fairness” Robert Fullinwider discusses how affirmative action is viewed differently…

    • 1136 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Affirmative Action In 1964 John F. Kennedy signed the Civil Rights Act of the year 1964 in which guaranteed “equal opportunities among races, genders, religions, people with disabilities and veterans, in an effort to counter past discrimination against these minority groups” but 3 years before the executive order 11246 was put in place by President Lyndon B. Johnson to demand government employers to take “affirmative action” to give all race, religion and national origin at chance to hire. Then 2 years later gender was concluded into that demand. It was put in place to make things all right to not set aside any religion, race, gender or anyone, to education, for jobs, etc. We still need affirmative action why set aside something that’s not fully complete.…

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Diversity is something we all encounter every day; while some might have a better opportunity at grasping anything such as a degree we are all humans and make mistakes. Some of us are smarter than others no matter how we look. Affirmative action is a topic we all have different opinions about. As defined by the Merriam-Webster Affirmative Action, “the practice of improving the educational and job opportunities of members of groups that have not been treated fairly in the past because of their race, sex, etc.” It gives them a boost in certain processes just because of their race, which is why this topic very controversial.…

    • 1031 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays