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Affirmative Action Related To The Civil Rights Movement

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"You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line of a race and then say you are free to compete with all the others, and still just believe that you have been completely fair.” Said President Lyndon Johnson in 1965 (civilrights.org) while the civil rights movement was at its peak. Ever since then affirmative action has been used to give “equal” opportunities to people who belong to a minority. According to Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Affirmative action means “positive steps taken to increase the representation of women and minorities in areas of employment, education, and culture from which they have been historically excluded.” (Fullwinder, 2001) But when does …show more content…

Since the creation of the united states racism has been an issue. Before the Civil War in the United States, black people were held as slaves and were subject to forced labour, being bought and sold and even cruelty. After the Civil War ended in 1865, slavery was no longer legal but states that used to own slaves would use a new system called “Jim Crow Laws” that would attempt against the rights of minorities. In 1965 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous speech “I Have a Dream” in which he sparked the movement that forever changed the way that social organization and job opportunities in the U.S.A. look at minorities. Affirmative action was created in 1961 by President J. F. Kennedy to make programs that would then give equal opportunities to people of all …show more content…

For an example, that diversity in higher education provides an educational advantage for all students, both personally and intellectually (Affirmative action, ncsl.com). Even though this is in many ways true, the admission to one school should not be determined by the color of one’s skin or someones historical descent, but for the academic merits, and even though, it is very true that in average disadvantaged groups tend to grow up with less opportunities, there should be no preference, affirmative action should be applied by preparing students for higher education or to defend them for discrimination but not to give them preference. Shelby Steels, Ph. D. from the Santa Clara university, said that admitting poorly qualified students into universities will not only harm the better qualified ones, but it will also harm the lesser qualified ones by putting them in a position for which they are not prepared, or qualified (pardon the redundancy), and will end up dropping out (Shelby, 1992). This might not be the case for many subjects, but reality is that jobs and schools have requirements that are meant to be completed in order to successfully fulfill the ties required for the

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The New Deal, World War II, and post-World War II marked significant periods in American history as the federal government created various programs to relieve the nation from the Great Depression and spur economic growth. However, as Ira Katznelson points out in his book, “When Affirmative Action Was White,” these programs held disparities that disproportionately benefited white Americans. This essay will examine how New Deal, World War II, and post-World War II programs represented affirmative action for white Americans. In “When Affirmative Action Was White,” Katznelson explores how New Deal programs represented affirmative action for white Americans.

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On July 02, 1964 , Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibited against people discriminating against another because of their skin color , so everybody was treated equally. L.B.J he became president after John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22nd, 1963 and L.B.J took office the next day. He finished what J.F.K wanted and signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Political means some did it for votes or for something and principle means the person did something because it was the right thing to do. Why did L.B.J sign it was, it a political decision or was it a principle decision?

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Shelby Steele’s perspective about affirmative action is that it’s didn’t help African Americans achieve equality. Continuously, he believes that affirmative action only reinforces the misconception that people should be treated differently according to their outward appearance. Affirmative action is created to improve opportunities for minorities in employment and education. Like any legalization, affirmative action has positive and negative sides, however I disagree with Shelby Steele that negative effect on minorities. In our country, we have decades of racial, economical, and social inequality for minorities, and affirmative action tries to address that disparity.

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The main purpose of Affirmative Action is to put an end to discrimination towards the minorities. Although black citizens were put towards a disadvantage in society with the assistance of Affirmative Action was reversed back towards white citizens. When racials practice that have historically have placed blacks at a disadvantage are removed that is when whites believe that preferential treatment is given back to the blacks. Hill also argues that there needs to be some changes in the labor

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In 1963 Washington D.C the “I Have A Dream” speech verbally accorded to people in hope of change (Document F). According to Martin Luther King Jr there are seven racist states, in these southern states the people are conservative and discriminate against colored people. Martin Luther King Jr believed in standing up together knowing freedom will rain everywhere, one day colored people will no longer have laws hindering their rights. With freedom of rights states should be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. Even referencing the event of claiming our freedom from Great Britain, the Declaration of Independence.

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Making a Dream Reality Martin Luther King Jr. once said I have a dream that one day this nation will live up to its creed: “We hold these truths to be self evident all men are created equal”. America has had its fair share of racial discrimination, although the brutality of it is not as prevalent, it still exists. Many people believe that racism is just between African Americans and Caucasians contrary to belief racism exists for within all races. Slavery, Civil rights movements, police brutality, and racial profiling are all things that play into racism today. Slavery started in America when Europeans wanted to move from the mother country to America.

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However, discrimination was still in the air and today people are still fighting against it. It may not be as bad as before, but it still lingers to this day. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the passing of 13th Amendment will be one of the greatest steps

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The Equal Opportunity Act of 1964 was the most progressive act since the reconstruction. Although not intentionally, many blacks were intimidated after winning these new rights. They were intimidated not to go to the workplace, voting, or schools. In all, the law did succeed in it’s plan to integrate and eliminate segregations. It succeeded because it was a law that finally went in favor of the ones fighting for equality.

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Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech had a great deal of logos and pathos appeals to persuade his audience to speak out against segregation and to give all men the rights they deserve. He gave many reasons in his speech to make the audience excited and want to take action, like when he says: “This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”... America has defaulted on this promissory note, ... given the Negro people a bad check… which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” (King para. 4)

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Introduction: The civil rights movement of 1954-1968 has made a huge impact on the history of African-American equality. All the great leaders of the movement have gone down in history for their courageous work and outstanding commitment to the civil rights movement. One of the most famous of the activists was Martin Luther King Junior (1929-1968) . King is still remembered today for his legendary speech entitled “I had a dream”.

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The fear is that without this policy, diversity will not always happen if left up to chance. It is true that schools and other organizations have discriminated against women and people of other race. This problem created an unfair advantage for males of the superior race. Supporters also charge that without affirmative action African Americans would have a more difficult process of being admitted into prestigious and predominately white universities (Hopkins, 2010). Affirmative Action allows minorities to reflect different areas of study and work that otherwise would have never been considered.

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Racism in America has been around for centuries however it was in the 1960's that the attitudes of many Black Americans started to quickly change and they realized they wanted equality. Out of this, The Civil Rights Movement emerged which was a peaceful social movement that strove for equal human rights for black Americans. The leader of the Civil Rights Movement is no one other than Martin Luther King Jr. In his book, Why We Can't Wait, King tries to convince Black Americans to realize their reality, remember their roots and important and mainly, to seek changes to social conditions and attitudes.

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Two score and 13 years ago people with colored skin were being segregated for everyday activities like drinking from a water fountain and going to school. Martin Luther King and many others were tired of not getting the treatment they were promised as a whole, so Martin Luther King wrote his famous “I have a Dream” speech, to address the problem that was sweeping the nation. He wanted to persuade the nation to treat Black people with equality and respect. The black population was not going to rest until they received their rights that they were promised when Abraham Lincoln said the “Emancipation Proclamation” . King has a dream and has faith that one day everyone will be equal, everyone will have rights, and that there will be everlasting

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As far as morality and justice are concerned, if a school or business or government declines to practice affirmative action, that’s okay” – says the

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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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