Home > HUMANITIES > Affirmative Action >

Affirmative Action

This paper provides support for the argument that affirmative action is an attempt to compensate for society’s failure to provide equality of opportunity to minority groups, with a focus on African Americans. The paper also provides a discussion of the counter-view to this argument.

Details

Citations 14

Citation Style APA

Sources 6

Pages 5

Price: $20.00

From the Paper

Affirmative Action A few years back the National Urban league commented in its annualreport titled The State of Black America that despite societalgains the overall status of blacks is just percent of their whitecounterparts National p This statement reflected changesoccurring over the forty years following the passage of the Voting RightsAct of forty-one years after the Civil Rights Act of and forty-four years after the establishment of the Equal Employment OpportunityCommission EEOC by President John F Kennedy in Despite decades offormal Affirmative

1). 2).Such efforts have been expanded to the private sector over time, with manybusinesses not working for government also developing such efforts.Affirmative action is, said Cahn (2 6, p. (2 4). This inequity is a major cause of ongoing tensions between the racesin the United States and may well be evidence of the persistence of racismboth formally and informally in American society. 1). 1-2), who drew uponvarious formal sources including census data to demonstrate that African-Americans are "significantly less likely" to achieve a college degree thanall whites (which includes Hispanics) and white non-Hispanic Americans.Further, Unnever (2 6, p. Retrieved October 8, 2 8, from http://www.nul.org/thestateofblackamerica.htmlSykes, M. 2) points out that the poverty rate amongindividual African-Americans is 26.5 percent as compared to a rate of 8.6percent for white, that 23.6 percent African-Americans families are poor ascompared to 6.3 percent of white families, and that 39.8 percent of female-headed African-American households are poor as compared to 27.7 percent ofwhite female-headed households. Retrieved October 8, 2 8, from http://www. The National Urban league suggests thatthere are "insufficient governmental policies in place to facilitate theeconomic advancement of African-Americans," especially in areas such ashome ownership, business development and entrepreneurship assistance,community development block grants, better education, and affordable healthcare (National, 2 5, p. The origins of affirmative action. A good deal of the argument used toroll back affirmative action programs and policies stems from itsperception as a policy that promotes reverse discrimination and promotespreferential treatment. From the perspective of thiswriter, much more must be done to eliminate these inequities. E. 1). 2). Affirmative Action A few years back, the National Urban league commented in its annualreport titled "The State of Black America 2 5" that "despite societalgains, the overall status of blacks is just 73 percent of their whitecounterparts" (National, 2 5, p. As such,Affirmative Action remains a solid means of advancing social justice tocompensate society's historical and systemic failure to provide equality ofopportunity for all groups. Data on the socio-economic and educational status of African-Americans was provided by James D. 1) notedthat this program was initiated by President Lyndon B. This statement reflected changesoccurring over the forty years following the passage of the Voting RightsAct of 1965, forty-one years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and forty-four years after the establishment of the Equal Employment OpportunityCommission (EEOC) by President John F. Retrieved October 8, 2 8, from http://www.runet.edu/~junnever/bw/htm The gap in achievement across a number of socio-economic measuresbetween African-Americans and whites can be explained by the lack ofprograms available to correct institutional inequities. Retrieved October 8, 2 8, from http://www.now.org/nnt/ 8-95/affirmhs.htmlUnnever, J. 4). Such policies have proven to be aneffective means of redressing the historical racism and sexism prevalent inAmerican society. With respect to Affirmative Action, Stephen Cahn (2 6, p. Redressing this inequityin educational and economic opportunities to help advance social justicewas one of the primary goals of Affirmative Action legislation whenoriginally enacted. Opponents of affirmativeaction argue that such measures are tantamount to reverse discrimination,giving preferential treatment to women and minorities at the expense ofwhite males. (1995). Under President Richard M. Stephen Cahn on the history of Affirmative Action. Affirmative action has led to higher employment participation rates, increased earnings, and gains in educational attainment for women and minorities. (2 5). One of these remedies was AffirmativeAction and the educational and workplace opportunities and programsassociated with its legislation. Affirmative action policies resulted in increases in the representation of women and minorities across all levels of employment in the U.S. Many of these areleftover from the past, when generations of African-Americans wereprohibited higher education or good-paying jobs, miring future generationsin poverty with few work skills. Executive Summary. Despite decades offormal Affirmative Action programming designed to provide preferentialtreatment for members of minority groups in the educational and workplaceenvironments, African-Americans continue to be at "a distinct economicdisadvantage" vis-à-vis their white American counterparts (Cahn, 1995, p.1). American Psychological Association (APA). According to the National Organization for Women(NOW), "anyone who benefits from affirmative action must have relevant andvalid job or educational requirements," and less than 2% of the 91, employment discrimination cases pending before the EEOC are reversediscrimination, (Sykes, 2 5, p. Many Americans equate affirmative action to "quotas, set-asides,and preferential treatment that benefit minorities and women at the expenseof males" (Affirmative, 2 5, p. (2 5). Unnever (2 6, pp. New York Amsterdam News, 95(47), 13-15.National Urban League's the state of black America. and within organizations that were once exclusively male. Only recently, the Supreme Court ruled to uphold affirmativeaction in a narrow 5-4 decision (Curry, 2 4). Therefore, a defense ofaffirmative action as an attempt by the government to compensate forsociety's failure to provide equality of opportunity for minority groups inthe United States is a sound argument. Sociological comparisons between African- Americans and whites. apa.org/pubinfo/affirmaction.htmlCahn, S. From the perspective of the National UrbanLeague, the problems confronted by the African-American community continueto place this group at "a very real disadvantage" (National, 2 5, p. National Organization for Women, (NOW). Affirmative Action policiesare typically a good measure of the racial and ethnic divisions in Americansociety. Johnson inrecognition of the fact that previous legislative and programmatic effortsto enhance the socioeconomic opportunities available to minorities wereinadequate. Despite many arguing that Affirmative Action is necessary tocompensate for society's failure to provide equality of opportunity forminority groups, others take an opposing view. (2 6). These data support the conclusion thatdespite years of programming designed to enhance the socioeconomic statusof African-Americans, poverty and limited educational achievement continueto characterize this segment of the population. Universities retreating from affirmative action. According to the American Psychological Association(APA), the following findings offer ample evidence that affirmative actionhas been successful in doing so: . National Urban League. (Affirmative, 2 5, p. (2 5). ReferencesAffirmative Action: Who benefits? 3).Government, as the party responsible for overseeing the social contract andensuring that all citizens have equal opportunity for advancement, muststep in and remedy these inequities. Clearly this criticism is not validand Affirmative Action promotes equality not inequality. Kennedy in 1961. Retrieved October 8, 2 8, from http://aad.english.ucsb.edu/docs/Cahn.htmlCurry, G. . 5) What is particularly compelling about this topic, as brieflyoutlined herein, is that literally a hundred and more years of programs toreduce formal, institutional barriers to the advancement of African-Americans and other minority groups have not been as successful as theyshould have been. D. Nixon, Johnson's original order wasexpanded to require all contractors working with government agencies todevelop an "acceptable affirmative action program" (Cahn, 2 5, p. Despite programs like Affirmative Action and Welfare-to-Work efforts, the data briefly described above (compiled by the Nationalurban League) clearly delineates a "racial divide" supporting theconclusion that African-Americans are still victimized by the lack of a"level playing field" (National, 2 5, p. 2), a "divisive issue in theUnited States," and while it may have assisted some minority group membersin achieving advancement, it has not been able to resolve the problems ofdiscrimination and disadvantage. Affirmative action policies, both voluntary and mandatory, have gonea long way to eradicate racism and prejudice in American socialinstitutions like work and school.

Ask a question about this product

Also Search for Affirmative Action in all categories

Related Essays

Affirmative action
This paper examines affirmative action as it applies in both the public sector and to private sector employees. It also examines the interaction between affirmative action and title VII of the the US Civil Rights Act. This river focuses on equal employment opportunity and addresses questions including why certain employers are subject to affirmative action plans and what these plans require employers to do.
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION.
Discusses discrimination in college admissions policies. Purpose of affirmative action to level the playing fields for higher education for African Americans. Focuses on California as an example of continued discrimination against African Americans. University of California adoption of a policy that ignores ethnic & gender preferences. Admissions decisions. Issue of different standards.
Anti-Affirmative Action Ballot Measures
This paper examines the originators of the affirmative action ballot measure and evaluates their authority, credibility, and probable motives.
Affirmative Action
Discusses elements of affirmative action as it applies to public and private sector employers, and how it intracts with Title VII requirements of Equal Employment Opportunity. Presents what and who the law applies to.
Affirmative Action
An analysis of affirmative action that looks at the views of opponents and proponents in order to argue that the policy as it has been implemented has been discriminatory and needs to be rethought.
Affirmative Action
This brief essay maintains that affirmative action has not ended racial oppression in American society and actually serves to reinforce and sustain it.
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION.
Historical background, roles of civil rights & women's movement, legal decisions, political issues, benefits & failings.
Diversity in the workforce
This paper examines the issues surrounding affirmative action programs and plans and attempts to identify ways in which an affirmative action program can be implemented without unduly infringing on the rights of individuals to make reasonable and rational hiring and other employment related decisions
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION.
Argues against this policy designed to right discriminatory hiring in the past, using studies in Japan & U.S.
Affirmative Action
An analysis of affirmative action that argues such policies are effective and still necessary to redress historically systemic discrimination in business and education. Issues involved. Assaults on Affirmative Action legislation.

Become a Premium Member. Buy all pre-written essays for only $2 per page! AND Get $1 of store credit for every $10 you spend!

Testimonials

This makes all the difference.

The staff and writers are true professionals. They are honest and helpful. If you order from them, you are in very good hands.

I'm so happy!

I used to have such a terrible time with writing, but not any more. This company has taken one of my most stressful college experiences and made it easy!

The Best Service Ever!

I really do appreciate Research Assistance. I'm not a good writer and the service really gets me going in the right direction. The staff gets back to me quickly with any concerns that I might have and they are always on time. Thanks a million for your excellent service.

Subjects

Show all subjects...

Affirmative Action

Related Essays

Related Pages

Your cart

Testimonials

Subjects