J.C. Watts, the first African-American in Oklahoma to win statewide office, when asked about his views on affirmative action, answered in simple words, something I utterly stand by for: “I’m not one that believes that affirmative action should be based on one's skin color or one's gender, I think it should be done based on one's need, because I think if you are from a poor white community, I think that poor white kid needs a scholarship just as badly as a poor black kid.” The debate on affirmative action has consumed an important number of the US’ population since 1961, with both sides having very strong arguments. Although the goals of affirmative action sound theoretically and politically correct, the reality of the outcome isn’t that pretty. In this essay I argue that affirmative action in higher education has a negative impact on the minorities it is supposed to benefit. Affirmative action emerged in 1960’s, when the Civil Rights movement had blossomed. In the name of equality, people were fighting for minorities’ rights in the education system and in the employment. On March 6, 1961 President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 10925, which included a provision that government contractors "take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and employees are treated …show more content…
The racial issues have gained a significant amount of attention since the Civil Rights movement and are still an important issue today. Nevertheless, diversity is not only different skin colors, it is also different backgrounds. Jeff Chang, an American journalist and author of “Who We Be: The Colorization of America”, said in a New York Times’ interview, “Diversity ‘‘is an empty signifier for me now,’’ though ‘‘I still strongly believe in the possibility.’’ Chang prefers ‘‘equity’’ to ‘‘diversity,’’ saying that the latter has been ‘‘deradicalized’’ from its roots in the multicultural movements of decades