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Pros And Cons Of Affirmative Action

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In the United States of America, affirmative action was established in the 1960’s in order to redress the disadvantages of minority and historically excluded groups. Specifically focusing on issues in education and the workforce, affirmative action aimed to make these public institutions more representative of the population that they served. However, while affirmative action was meant to level the playing field, some argued that it brought about reverse discrimination against those who were not disadvantaged in this nation. Opponents asserted that affirmative action policies favor one group over another based solely on race rather than qualifications. No matter the argument, the Supreme Court debated this issue and attempted to accommodate …show more content…

Bakke, asserting that certain numerical targets based on race for employment and admission were unconstitutional. In this case, Allan P. Bakke, applied to the University of California Davis Medical School where he was rejected twice. After discovering that his test scores had been higher than some minorities receiving admission, he sued the university arguing that he had been denied equal protection of the law. In the end, the Supreme Court ruled in this landmark decision that the medical school’s quota policy violated the equal protection clause. However, while this case outlawed quota systems in a university’s admission policy, it upheld the constitutionality of affirmative action, specially in order to achieve higher racial diversity in education. Furthermore, in Hopwood v. Texas, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld that the University of Texas Law School could not use race as a factor in their admission policy in order to have a more racially diverse student population. In this case, Cheryl J. Hopwood filed suit against the University of Texas because she claimed that she had been denied admission even though she was better qualified than other minority students. Even though the Supreme Court refused to review the case at the time, the decision of Hopwood v. Texas was the precedent in the Court of Appeals until 2003, until the Supreme Court repealed the decision. …show more content…

In Fullilove v. Klutznick, the US Supreme upheld the Second Circuit’s decision that the United States Congress could use its spending powers to rectify past discrimination. The policy in question was whether Congress could mandate that ten percent of federal funds allocated to public works programs could be set aside for companies owned by minorities. While the Court was deeply divided, even among the assenting decisions, the Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decision. In another case, Grutter v. Bollinger, the US Supreme Court upheld the affirmative action policies of the University of Michigan Law school. Barbara Grutter filed suit against the University, arguing that they had discriminated against her on the basis of race, violating the Fourteenth Amendment. With a 5-4 decision, the Court upheld that the University had a compelling interest in promoting class diversity and that since there was no quota system, race could play a factor in a university’s admission policy. Through both decisions, the court upheld the constitutionality of affirmative action in the United States. However, since the decisions contradicted Hopwood v. Texas, they again brought the constitutionality of affirmative action into question. Even so, through these cases, it is clear that the Supreme Court attempted to accommodate both

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District Court judge, Sam Sparks, who upheld the university’s use of race when deciding admissions under the precedent of Grutter v. Bollinger because the university’s use of race was found to be narrowly tailored. When the decision was challenged, the case was heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the district court’s ruling was affirmed. When Fisher challenged the decision, the case was heard by the Robert’s U.S. Supreme Court which decided that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit had erred by not applying the test of strict scrutiny to the University of Texas at Austin’s decision to base some of their admissions on race, and so the case went back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. When the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit heard the case again, they decided that the university’s admission policy based somewhat on race was narrowly tailored to the objective of promoting educational diversity. Currently, the case Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin is pending a decision by the U.S. Supreme

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In Regents of University of California v. Bakke (1978), the Supreme Court ruled that a university 's use of racial "quotas" in its admissions process was unconstitutional, but a school 's use of "affirmative action" to accept more minority applicants was constitutional in some circumstances. " The college was asked to at least consider blacks in the admittance of college and they were asked to not use quotas in the admission

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(Economist). It is also reverse discrimination. Although blacks and Hispanics have been discriminated against in the past, that does not justify discrimination towards non-minorities in the present day (Mtholyoke). Despite affirmative action being a surefire way to guarantee diversity in schools, those who rightfully qualify for their places in certain colleges should have equal opportunities to be accepted, no matter their

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Every American should be wary of any instance in which the government distinguishes between people based on race, with bad or good motivations. But in its ruling, the 5th Circuit offered the justices, several good reasons to side with the university" (editorial board 2). They supports that what the court had decided, they think UT Austin’s modest program is a prime example of the sort that should survive judicial scrutiny. The Washington Post also points out "The university’s opponents charge that the affirmative-action policy is unnecessary. The top 10 percent program has pulled in minority students" (editorial board 4).

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People always contemplate whether college admissions are fair. Some schools believe that admissions should be completely merit-based whereas other schools believe that admissions should be primarily merit-based but allow racial preferences to be favored over others with the same credentials. Racial preferences in admissions are one of the most common talked about topics among education in the Supreme Court. The plan for college admissions was to incorporate affirmative action, which is “the policy of favoring members of a disadvantaged group who are perceived to suffer from discrimination within a culture.” Many people think that affirmative action should be banned from college admissions to give each student a fair chance.

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In fact, it harmed their academic records and left them less confident in their abilities. Although the Fourteenth Amendment was not explicitly violated in the University’s admissions policy, the use of race to give an advantage to a select group applicants certainly comes into conflict with the Equal Protections Clause. The Equal Protections Clause guarantees equal opportunities to all races, meaning that a certain group should not have a disadvantage or an advantage in any situation involving federally funded institutions. Abigail Fisher should have been admitted or rejected based solely on her academic and

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As recently as December 2015 the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Fisher v. The University of Texas at Austin. Texas has gone back and forth on how they handle affirmative action with college admissions. A federal appeals court banned affirmative action at the larger universities in Texas in 1996, that decision was then reversed by the Supreme Court in 2003. The Fisher v. University of Texas case was originally heard by the Supreme Court in 2012 and was sent back to the lower court for review. This case will end up determining whether the University of Texas can consider race as an admissions factor.

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Because of this, in 1978, after receiving his second rejection letter from the University of California Davis Medical School, a man by the name of Allan Bakke, who was a very qualified candidate, sued the U.C Davis on the basis that their quota program violated his rights. The court decided that quota programs were a failed means of upholding affirmative action and ruled that it was a violation of the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment. In the end, U.C Davis and many other schools ended their quota programs in favor of a more holistic means of assessing candidates in which race did play a factor --thus still adhering to the affirmative action laws-- but not as severe as in quota programs (Colonial Williamsburg’s Nutshell History: Affirmative

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University of Texas two prospective freshmen Abigail Fisher and Rachel Michalewicz sued the University of Texas because they failed to gain admission into the university. They girls claimed they were discriminated because of being white. Prior to the Fisher case, the number of minorities enrolling at University of Texas increased drastically. The reason behind such numbers is for the school to become “race-neutral” meaning to make the presence of minorities at the university equal. Before the Fisher case, in 1996, in HOPWOOD, the Fifth Circuit of Appeals ruled that the University of Texas could not use race as a factor for attaining diversity.

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The role of affirmative action in college admissions has been debated between critics who argue that it provides a fair access to higher education for minorities and critics who argue that it promotes discrimination against white students instead. Despite the numerous amount of court cases that have challenged race-based factors in college admissions, the Supreme Court’s final rulings have always supported affirmative action in education. However, the recent cases of Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin has proposed the Supreme Court to review the possibility of abolishing affirmative action. Thus, this case’s impact on the Supreme Court’ new stance on racial-based admissions has garnered the attention of numerous news outlets that media

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Affirmative Action has been one of the most controversial issues since before World War II. This policy, in the eyes of those who support it, evens the playing field for people of all backgrounds, including race and ethnicity, and those who’ve had less fortunate upbringings. Others, however, see it as discrimination toward the majority. Both arguments can be supported, but the laws and executive orders that have been implemented because of Affirmative Action tell the real story. Where Affirmative Action is and isn’t constitutional walks a fine line.

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First, in 1954, the US Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education to abolish separate but equal practices and this would lead to later advances in affirmative action. Second, in 1997 the University of Michigan was sued by white students, who claimed the affirmative action policies used race and gender as a factor in admissions. This case was groundbreaking, as it was the first anti-affirmative action case ever. Third, in 2001, the judge in the Grutter v. Bollinger case ruled that the University of Michigan’s admission policy was unconstitutional. Lastly, in 2003, Gratz v. Bollinger, which challenged a policy containing a point system that gave priority to minority applicants, was overturned six to three.

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Affirmative action is one of the most controversial issues between scholars, academics, professionals, and in the forum of public opinion in general. It has been extended to all public services, education, as well as military and private workplace issues. Extreme diverse opinions have been raised throughout many years since the affirmative action took a place. I believe that the core issue might be that there is a general lack of familiarity among the general public what term affirmative action does actually mean. Affirmative action or positive discrimination is a program providing advantages for people of a minority group or who are seem to have been traditionally historically discriminated against.

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Affirmative action is the practice that was designed to protect members of marginalized groups from discrimination and provide equal opportunities. Affirmative action is constantly under fire in the United States despite the benign platform on which it was built. In essence, affirmative action aims to ensure that historically and verifiably disadvantaged peoples are given a chance they deserve that might not have been given otherwise. The practice aims to increase diversity and address past wrongdoings of excluding qualified people from an opportunity for discriminatory reasons. Arguments that arise against affirmative action is that it is “reverse discrimination,” and past wrongdoings to minorities does not justify present-day “discrimination”

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Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. said, “I thought that the whole purpose of affirmative action was to help students who come from underprivileged backgrounds” (Kahlenberg). Although the motives of affirmative action are positive, the conduct is wrong and intolerable. Cohen says that the fundamental principle is “giving preference by race, by skin color, is wrong, unjust; when done by an agency of the state it is unlawful, a violation of federal statutes and of our Constitution” (Cohen). It is an unfair practice not only to

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