Affirmative action, what is it? Affirmative action is an active effort to improve the employment or educational opportunities of members of minority groups and women. Affirmative action is very important in our modern society, Affirmative action is the most effective way of addressing discrimination against minorities and women. Affirmative action has been around for several years and is still needed today. Affirmative action has been very helpful in court cases in society since it has become a law.
In 1954 there was the Brown vs. Board of Education case, which made it possible for African Americans to attend school. In 1978 The University of California vs. Bakke case, this banned racial quotas. Then in 2008 came the Fischer vs. University of Texas at Austin (UT), this case once again shuttered door for opportunities. This case was brought on by a Caucasian student who felt that she was passed over in favor of minority students with less of an academic level. The end result of this case was in favor of the school not the student Abigail Fischer.
Affirmative action is still needed until society solves racial issues. Without affirmative action in place minorities and women would not get the equal opportunity of education or employment. Taking away affirmative action is a step backwards. Steba has said that “ we have a long way to go to reach a point where there is racial, sexual, and economic justice. ” Affirmative action is needed to make sure that our society can move towards a racial, sexual and economic justified society. Also past issues of racial injustice must be addressed for the country to move forward.
It has been thought that even people whom oppose affirmative action understand that race, gender and class need to come into account for equal opportunity. People realize that not everyone has the same chance as others and the barrier could be race, gender or their economically class. However, some who oppose affirmative action see it as racism in itself and feel like the law is racists towards people whom are not minorities. Affirmative action should not be looked at negatively it should be considered an act of fairness and justification. Affirmative action makes it fair for groups that would usually be discriminated against.
Affirmative action makes it so that these groups who are just as qualified as others can get the same job or college education. Without affirmative action these groups would be discriminated against and would not have the same chance at a college education or great career as others. Research suggests highly educated people react more negatively regarding affirmative action than those whom have a lesser education. It is thought that highly educated people have less prejudice and do not mind soft forms of affirmative action; they are more negative towards the hard forms of affirmative action.
A soft form of affirmative action is policy’s located towards the individual pole. Hard forms of affirmative action are policy’s located at the group pole. Education is a huge step in a person’s social status and that is why it is believed that people with a higher education are not as positive about affirmative action. However, research shows that people who feel that their personal interests are being used with affirmative action are much more positive about the law.
It is thought that those who do not feel their personal interests are being used with affirmative action feel threatened. Just because someone may feel threatened by a law does not mean that it should not be in effect. Without affirmative action people whom are considered minorities would not have the same chance to get the all American college education which is so highly important in the modern world. Some people believe that “ better qualified” applicants are passed over so that schools meet affirmative action qualifications.
However this is not a true statement, with the colleges enrolling students of different ethnicities and educational achievements not only helps the students but helps the universities too. Affirmative action helps universities have a much needed diversity among the campuses. Without affirmative action in place the enrollment numbers for minorities are thought to plummet. It is thought that the rate of African American student enrollment would drop an astonishing 18 percent. The Hispanic enrollment would drop about one half. With this would cause the feeling of prejudice and discrimination.
Affirmative action has decreased and is thought that this has happened because of the expense. One expense is financial aid as people feel that many minorities need financial aid. Financial aid is used by all races so this is an untrue statement. Affirmative action is still needed for diversity and the commonwealth of universities around the country. IT has been said that we must not forget this country’s history, with our history of racism and discrimination, it is very important to keep affirmative action in our modern society.
History has been said to prevail. Opponents of affirmative action deem it as stereotypical and discriminative in itself. This is not a true statement. Affirmative action is equal opportunities for minorities, to receive the same education and earnings as the majority. Six states have banned public institutions from using affirmative action, those states include, Texas, California, Washington, Florida, Georgia and Michigan. Evidence does show that there were fewer African Americans and Hispanics graduating from four year colleges following these bans.
African Americans and Hispanics who did make it to graduation, graduated from less prestige’s colleges. Is this what the country wants when we are supposed to be created equal? This does not sound like equality, this sounds like affirmative action works well and should stay the way it was put into law by President Johnson. In November 2006 the state of Michigan had a proposal (proposal number 2) that asked citizens to “ amend the state constitution to ban affirmative action programs” by voting yes or no. This proposal passed which ended affirmative action in Michigan.
Since this ban was passed it suggests that people are colorblind and just how high the level of racial ideology is in the United States of America. It is thought that affirmative action always falls back to race, whether the individual talking about it is opposed or proposed to the topic. Why is this affirmative action just about race? It should not be, affirmative action is about equality and equal rights for all American citizens. Some opponents of affirmative action say that younger people are not concerned with race so affirmative action is not needed.
Affirmative action is not just about race; it helps people of class, sexuality, gender and merit to name a few. Affirmative action should not be banned because it is not just about race, if people say that racism is not an issue well sexuality and class is. The following quote shows just how colorblind people who oppose affirmative action are “ No more reverse discrimination toward white’s, which is what AA is all about. Just because you’re a minority doesn’t mean you deserve special treatment. Now if you’re a minority and you get admitted based on your grades and merit, then you deserve it.
You succeed by your actions, not by your race, sex, age, whatever you want to blame it on. U of M is not above the law. The law was voted by the people to ban discrimination against those Who deserve. The sleeping giant is awakening and this crap of AA is going to be a thing of the past. In the 21st century the people are no longer going to tolerate special treatment for people based on their skin color. ” This quote truly goes to show that racism is still very active in this country. So should affirmative action be an issue allowed on ballots? No.
Affirmative action has been put to the test in cases at the Supreme Court several times, these always get overturned. Affirmative action is a law that should stay in place until racism and discrimination is resolved. Racism is still very much alive in the modern world today and everyone deserves the same right to attend a college or get a good job. Affirmative action should stay strong and active in our country. We as a nation need to come together and allow all people no matter their race, gender, sexuality or class the same right to an education.
Minorities have a lower chance of going to college because they are usually a lower class and do not have the same advantage when it comes to schooling. Why don’t all humans deserve the same education? They do. How do we know these peoples full potential if we do not allow them the education they deserve? We don’t. There are so many successful minorities in the modern world due to affirmative action. Without affirmative action colleges would have no diversity and our world would have no diversity in the workplace.