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Affirmative Action Programs Pros And Cons

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Affirmative Action is a federal agenda passed in the 1960s designed to counteract historical discrimination suffered by minorities and other underrepresented groups in the United States. To foster diversity, institutions with affirmative action programs prioritize the inclusion of minority groups in employment and education. For example, Affirmative Action programs have allowed minorities entry into certain professions formerly deemed off limits. However, one can argue that affirmative action has failed to improve anti-discrimination in the areas of employment and education. Utilitarianism can promote the use of Affirmative Action with its goal of improving employment and education opportunities for minorities. The focus should be on minorities …show more content…

Since the problem of education still exists in minority communities, diversity-focused Affirmative Action has failed to meet the moral standards of utilitarianism. Diversity is severed as a primary goal from any corrective justice considerations. Thus, race cannot be solely privileged among other types of diversity such as religion, ethnicity, and economic background, just to name a few (Blum, 2013, pg.5). Equalizing K-12 education to benefit African-Americans and Latinos serves as moral justice. Many advocates of diversity centered Affirmative Action will see 8% of African-Americans and Latinos at elite colleges as progress. However, proponents fail to realize that these percentages could be higher if a social program based on morality could be implemented to equalize education for …show more content…

African and Afro-Caribbean Black students are better educated throughout K-12 and are consequently "overrepresented among the black populations at many elite institutions (Blum, 2013, pg.5). Daryl Fears (2007) stated that African and Afro-Caribbean students made up more than a quarter of all Black students at elite institutions of higher learning. It speaks to the level of education being taught abroad because African, and Afro-Caribbean students are not subjected to unequal education stemming from the legacy of segregation. For example, the education a student receives is consistent whether schooled in Jamaica or Trinidad. In the United States, African-Americans are subjected to a lesser education that of white due to the legacy of segregation. The land mark Supreme Court Case Brown v. Board of Education (1954) that declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional has done little to prevent segregation. This separation exists presently due to neighborhoods segregated based on income. Fears (2007) reiterated this point that Afro-Caribbean and African students were in the majority and did not have to experience the stigma of segregation that African-American students still face. Anderson could argue that Afro-Caribbean example does not apply since the populations in those nations are homogenous. That may be the case, but this model provides a potentially fruitful alternative which

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We have seen in the past four decades race-based affirmative action programs that have arisen and fitfully developed through judicial challenges. As in most case, the best of intentions do not always lead to positive outcomes. Nothing could be more apt in describing the perilous position we have bestowed upon millions of minority students who have been admitted to higher learning institutions under the auspices of diversity. As illustrated by the standardized test and GPA numbers in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, the students admitted to the medical school of UC-Davis under their affirmative action policy were extraordinarily less qualified when compared to the student body as a whole. This not only unfairly displaced white and Asian students who would have otherwise been admitted to those spot on merit but also places those underperforming students in an environment in which they are destined to fail.

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Yet, it could be argued that the college no longer needs to highlight these issues, because racism is no longer a problem in modern American society, and educational opportunities are equally available to any individual who works hard enough for them. However, it can be proven that these arguments are not valid simply by utilizing current scientific data. By analyzing this concrete evidence, one can conclude that systemic racism still directly impacts minorities, and that quality education is often not available to marginalized

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130 Words | 1 Pages

Finally, it’s worth repeating a point from the Economic Policy Institute’s Richard Rothstein, who notes—correctly—that “black families and their children suffer from compounded and inherited disadvantages that are unique, not like those of white or immigrant families who happen to be from lower social classes or who happen to live in low-income neighborhoods.” Race disadvantage is different than its class counterpart, and one affirmative action isn’t a substitute for the other. But even if it were, it’s important to note that if the court ends race-based affirmative action, there’s no guarantee that we’ll see an alternative. Opponents of race-conscious policy in education are often opponents of “diversity” writ large and won’t be fooled into

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Affirmative action in the United States I believe that affirmative action negatively affects on both minorities and majorities. From a minority’s perspective, the idea that minorities can receive benefits from others due to their race, ethnicity, or gender can cause them to feel segregated against anyway. Since the term, ‘minority,’ no longer applies to every females or person of color today, female students or students of color with affluent backgrounds may feel segregated and devalued even when they did not get any special benefit from affirmative action policies. Majorities, in this case, male or white students, will also get discouraged because this can be regarded as a form of reverse discrimination, especially with racial affirmative action programs.

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According to Peter Thiel and David Sacks, "preferences hurt poor whites and even many Asians" (Source G). Whites and Asians, traditionally majority groups in college enrollment, have a disadvantage if affirmative action policies exist. Under affirmative action, these two groups must overcome an additional obstacle they cannot control: their race. As equality applies to all groups, this added disadvantage that whites and Asians face reflects the reverse racism created by affirmative action policies, an inequality unfavorable toward whites and Asians. The inequality becomes even more apparent in cartoons portraying affirmative action as a means through which minorities cheat the admissions system, doing so by utilizing affirmative action as a shortcut to the ultimate goal of admission (Source H).

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“Affirmative Action may not be a perfect system, but there should be no doubt that it has endangered many successes. It has opened the doors of America’s most elite educational institutions to minority students, granting them unprecedented opportunities” (Ogletree 12). Thanks to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson a policy that prohibits employment and education discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, and sex is offered today to those who suffer from said discriminations (A Brief History). Affirmative action has opened abundant openings for minorities, allowing the cycle of going to college to be passed down generations and provided job opportunities that otherwise would not be considered by most. Affirmative

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Since the very group of words “affirmative action” is in total contradiction with the amendment fourteen which guarantees people equal protection under the law. But coming to affirmative action, we have to remark the sad history behind it, which is once again to disadvantage a group for another one. Therefore we can clearly say that affirmative action is not only illegal but it is also unconstitutional since it violates clearly the fourteenth amendment. Not only that, we need also to notice that affirmative action goes against this American ideal which is equal opportunity, the ability for someone to use whatever wealth and/or talent he/she has to reach his/her fullest potential. Due to affirmative action, we will notice down in the paper how affirmative action prevents people to use their fullest

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850 Words | 4 Pages

Affirmative Action Affirmative Action is a policy or program intended to redress past discrimination and promote equal opportunities in education and employment. This is a highly controversial and well known topic, especially when considering it as part of college admissions. Many argue that colleges and universities should consider a student’s race and national origin when reviewing submitted applications. This is merely an attempt to create a more diverse student body, and assure that discrimination not occur. Although there is evidence to support that Affirmative Action is beneficial to the college and its student body, it should not exists in admissions because it limits the number of qualified non-minority students admitted.

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141 Words | 1 Pages

During the 1960s, middle and upper-class populations began to move out of the suburbs and back into urban areas. Areas such as Harlem, Washington Heights and Brooklyn have deeply been affected by it. Gentrification has variable type of impact like many positive changes as a better-looking neighborhoods, more job opportunities as well as a reduction in crime rates in those areas, but with these positive changes negative results for others within the community will be affected such as displacement and rent increase which forced people to move out. Despite its positive impact which mainly affect the new incomers, gentrification seems to be better because of the positive results for the community since its main purpose is to benefit the community

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other students at the same institutions”. This statement thus reads that the minorities admitted to these schools are not equipped with the means to succeed in the school because Affirmative Action had made it easier for them to get admitted. Although the admission standards are different for marginalized applicants under the use of Affirmative Action, they fail to understand that minority applicants can’t be held at the same standard as majority applicants that have had numerous advantages both educational and economically for years. In my personal situation, I come from a Hispanic working class family. My parents who migrated from Mexico haven’t even attained a middle school education; the resources to help me succeed in school have always been minimal since the beginning, seeing as I couldn’t depend on my parents to help guide me through the process.

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At the heart of affirmative action programs is the idea of fairness. After centuries of slavery, decades of oppressive Jim Crow laws, and staggering inequality of opportunity, some Americans began to understand that the second-class status and marginalization of African-Americans was incompatible with the American ideals of equality and democracy. In order to make up for these past injustices, these liberals believed that preferential treatment in employment and educational opportunity for the disadvantaged was the fair, and right thing to do. Affirmative action, the policy of favoring disadvantaged groups who have been discriminated against, was thus born from the idea of fairness. Many Americans, however, did not view affirmative action in

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Affirmative action has become obsolete in today’s society. Affirmative action is an active effort to improve the employment or educational opportunities of members of minority groups and women; also: a similar effort to promote the rights or progress of other disadvantaged persons (Merriam-Webster, 2011). Today’s affirmative action will demoralize the very concepts that the policy was implemented to uphold: those of equality for all people regardless of color and discrimination. This policy supports racial multiplicity at the price of distinction, impartiality and experience; it also follows the line of reverse discrimination and sexual bias against white men (Reyna, Tucker, Korfmacher, & Henry, 2005).

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However, with diversity comes inequalities that people of color face throughout their lives. A particular issue in the United States, specifically in education, is unequal opportunities and treatment in regard to race. Research shows that students from single-parent black families had a high chance of dropping out and participating in illicit behavior (Hallinan 54). While the issue of race is a complicated issue to breach for

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Weak affirmative action which is just an effort to ensure that all qualified minority groups are considered whereas the strong one is when some sort of preference is given to the minority candidate. Later the author concludes that he will focus on the strong affirmative action because it is the most controversial one. Then the author gives us many arguments of different people and critics for and against affirmative action. Later on, David Boonin gives us his own arguments in favor of affirmative action which are 1) the unfair disadvantage argument; 2) the (other) compensation argument; 3) the appeal to diversity; 4) the need for role models; 5) the bias-elimination argument; 6) race as a qualification. “I conclude that while affirmative action may prove to have some desirable features and some beneficial consequences, there’s no reason to believe that it’s morally obligatory.

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Throughout many of the affirmative action legal cases, one of the main arguments from proponents is that it is necessary in order to right the wrongs of past racial discrimination. Some say that affirmative action is justified because even though white applicants may be more qualified, this is only because they did not face the same hardships as their minority counterparts (Rachels, Ethics, 1973).  Many argue if we do not integrate disadvantaged minorities into mainstream social institutions, they will continue to suffer the discrimination that has plagued our country for centuries and that this is detrimental to not only the minorities but also society as a whole (Anderson, 2002, 1270–71). However, the debate has recently shifted to the benefits of diversity in the classroom which the Supreme Court has affirmed as being a positive thing

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