Affirmative Action Essay -- Discrimination Race Racism Essays

Affirmative ActionAffirmative action is a blanket term that refers to the set of public policies and initiatives knowing to help eliminate past and present discrimination based on race, color, sex or national origin, (Sykes). Before the Civil Rights Acts of 1965 and the 1954 Scott v. Topeka decision, there were unrehearsed laws and protection for white men against competition from women and ethnic minorities in prestigious professions, creating blatant inequality (Alsbrook). Affirmative action policies designed in part to knock off such unwritten laws were first employed in 1965 to provide equal opportunity among federal contractors now however, they are used widely in umpteen industries, both public and private (Kahn). In the 1970s, the scope of the initiatives expanded to the arena of college and university admissions as well. Debate over approbative action has revolved around infinite issues ranging from diversity to the relevance of past injustices to so-called reverse dis crimination. The paramount key issue that is constantly asked regarding affirmative action is, Does affirmative action achieve its tendency of equality? Having considered the arguments from many perspectives, we recommend a general position that supports affirmative action policies. However, this support is not unmitigatedcertain constraints and amendments are required.Those who oppose affirmative action often claim that it simply does not succeed in helping the occupational and educational status of minorities. Some support for this claim incidentally policies in the workplace can be culled from the fact that women only earn approximately seventy-seven cents for every dollar men earn, the figure dropping to sixty-six cents for non-white women (... ...pdf popular news, target via Internet apparently credibleWilcher, J. Shirley. The History of Affirmative Action Policies Americans for FairChance Washington D.C (2003) In Motion Magazine. 26 April. 2004 http//www.inmotionmagazine. com/aahist.html terrific news print via internet reputable Yates, Steven. Affirmative Action The New Road to Serfdom. The Freeman. (1990)Vol. 40, No. 12. Foundation for Economic Education Inc. 6 April 2004 http//www.libertyhaven.com/politicsandcurrentevents/affirmativeaction/roadserfdom.shtml unrestricted print modified plausibleZauberman, Renee and Rene Levy. Police, Minorities, and the French RepublicanIdeal*. Criminology 41.4 (2003) 1065-1100. Research Library. ProQuest. NYU Bobst Library, NY, NY. 21 April. 2004 http//www.proquest.com/ scholarly primary print via Internet authoritative