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Examples Of Affirmative Action

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Wollstonecraft Group
Jose Gonzalez, Rosario Velasco & Cecil Vermule III
Affirmative Action
Kirkpatrick Signature Series
Bellevue University
February 7, 2016

Affirmative Action

What is Affirmative Action? According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, “Affirmative action policies are those in which an institution or organization actively engages in efforts to improve opportunities for historically excluded groups in American society” (NCSL, 2014). This was an important and necessary movement developed to contest the discrimination against minority groups, mainly African American and women. Affirmative action policies mainly affect the process of unemployment and education, to make sure that everyone has an equal opportunity …show more content…

Even though we have seen examples of the same behavior through world history, we will keep the focus on our own American history. Starting with the Native Americans,

they suffered and sadly could not endure the cruelty and abuse from the Spaniards when they first arrived to the new world. To mention one example of the sort of treatment the native Indians encountered, according to Howard Zinn, “The Spaniards thought nothing of knifing Indians by tens and twenties and of cutting slices off them to test the sharpness of their blades” (Zinn, 2008). The fear of being taken was by the Spaniards was so overwhelming the Native Americans subjected themselves to mass suicides with cassava poison and they even killed their own infants to “save them from the Spaniards.
When the Indian population was almost completely vanished by slavery, torture and murder, the Spaniards brought in their replacements, the African slaves. From slavery to segregation, the black population has been one of the most affected, and the oppression and inhumane treatment …show more content…

Procedures had to be implemented so groups that historically have been excluded or unrepresented group, to include minority groups and women, could have the equal opportunity of employment and education that would facilitate their pursuit of happiness as everyone else. Even though they were necessary, these procedures have been scrutinized and criticized by many for years. Affirmative action forced employers and higher education institutions to either assigned quotas or goals for the number of minority individuals they will accept or hire. On one hand, this system guarantees that a number of minorities will get employed and go to school, but it also limits that number. For example, if an employer needs to hire 20 employees, and there is a quota in place that mandates that 10% of employees need to be African American, 10% Hispanic and 10% women, then that employer could possibly meet the minimum quota of minorities and not hire anymore because he is covered, therefor still discriminate in a way that is legal. Another downside to this quota system in the employment side of things is that it could cause a form of reverse discrimination. If an employer has a position to fill and the best applicant does not meet the quota needs at that time, meeting the quota would take precedence over qualifications. Didn’t Martin

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