The Pros And Cons Of Affirmative Action

The synonyms for the term “affirmative action” is anti-discrimination, equals right policy, and fair treatment. However, does the term live up to its true meaning of equal opportunities? Affirmative action has been a controversial topic ever since President Johnson issued the Executive Order in 1965. As stated, the order would increase the numbers of minorities in jobs and schools nationwide. As a minority myself, I do not think the policy longer applies to today’s jobs and education systems, but instead does the complete opposite. Others will say, “the third fallacy is, affirmative action does not work” and it should be eliminated (Washington). While those who think the policy just needs a facelift will say “affirmative action was never meant

Affirmative action is such a controversial topic which has been brought up in many Supreme Court cases. In Griggs v. Duke Power case in 1971, the court argued “Title VII” bans “not only overt discrimination”, they are somewhat fair but are discriminatory in the way they proceed with their actions (Finkelman). Employers scrambled to eliminate discrimination processes under Title VII, and they began to hire more minorities to alleviate the problem. The Equal Opportunity Act of 1972 protected students in universities against discrimination, giving everyone a fair opportunity (Finkelman). Regents of the University of California v. Bakke in 1978 announced it was “unconstitutional to provide a quota system by reserving a definite number of places for minorities in the classes in the medical school of the University of California at Davis” (Brunner). In United Steelworkers v. Weber in 1979 the court took decision which “a short-term voluntary training program gave preference to minorities was constitutional.” The court case ruled the decisions of the training program did not hinder the abilities of another applicant who wanted to apply. Fisher v. The University of Texas at Austin racially discriminated against Abigail Fisher based on her color and rejected her application under its “race-conscious admission program” (5). Another example of why affirmative action is a horrible policy is the UT Austin affirmative action bake sale. A group of conservative students charged different prices for brownies based on customer’s race and claimed the policy is “demeaning to minorities” and creates “reverse discrimination”