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The Pros And Cons Of Affirmative Action

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Affirmative Action has lowered the standards of colleges and job requirements to help meet the requirements. Perazzo (2001) provides a good example of the lower standard, “At UCLA Law School in 1994, a black applicant with a college G.P.A. between 2.5 and 3.5, and an LSAT score between 60 and 90, had a 61 percent chance of admission. The corresponding rates for similarly qualified Asians and whites were 7 percent and 1 percent, respectively.”
It is time to move the standards upward and allow all people to compete for college admission or jobs and use race or gender as a tiebreaker.
The other change that has been made includes adding veterans to the list of protected classes as a deciding factor for jobs and college applicants. Veterans volunteer …show more content…

It might sound very controversial, but removing support for groups based on ethnicity removes race as an ancestral source of power. Although there are numerous minorities that have prospered from Affirmative Action, there are also numerous Americans that have floundered from it as well. We need to move away from ethnicity or gender and look towards what now defines social disadvantage. Those at such a disadvantage come from all walks of life. Assumptions cannot be made that Caucasians or males do not qualify for equal treatment and support from a program such as Affirmative Action. If the equitable measure at the core of the program is constructed on the needs of the American instead of the race of the American, then the ostensible hurdle regarding Affirmative Action has been solved. What we would then have is a solution that aids the individuals that make up the melting pot of American society that are at a disadvantage, regardless of biological or cultural difference. In today’s world, economical oppression makes us similar. This reform to Affirmative Action is compensation based on the individual, instead of on focused groups, as it was when it was created, which also speaks to the idealistic fibers we find in the Constitution. Justice will still play a part in identifying where fair share is needed the most because the focus on the individual will highlight the people that are at a

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Critics of affirmative action frequent describe the policy as being unfair, asserting that it contravenes a conserved system of meritocracy in the country by basing selection decisions on demographic characteristics at the expense of ability and achievement (Thernstrom & Thernstrom, 1997). Defenders take a different position that can be explained by two facts: racism and sexism are still present in the United States society and affirmative action is the most efficient and effective way of reducing discrimination than the present alternatives. However, affirmative action increases fusion and fairness in employment and in education because it works as a proactive observing system. As Crosby and Smith (2005) consider, “such policies may help ensure that patterns of bias—including selective system bias— are uncovered and

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On the Paradox of Affirmative Action Inequality has pervaded American society throughout history, and it continues to invade the lives of young Americans in the form of affirmative action. Affirmative action, a process in which colleges favor minorities and other disadvantaged groups, fails to serve its intended purposes: to compensate for historical discrimination. Worse, it creates aptly named reverse racism, wherein the majority has a disadvantage. Affirmative action also has a goal of creating diversity, but diversity includes more than race; moreover, the importance of equality vastly dwarfs the importance of diversity, though the two are closely entangled. Despite benevolent intentions, the institution of affirmative action policies

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Tension, dispute, and war has been the interlocking relationship between the Catholics and Protestants for centuries. Both looked to the Bible as sacred scripture, emphasized on studying the word of God, and the importance of reading scripture, however, the demeanor in how the bible should be used was very skewed from one another. Catholics stressed that the bible is too complicated for one to read on their own, one needed interpretation. Whereas, Protestants encouraged to take the book home and to read and study it with their family. Physically the Bible was less central to the homes of Catholics, whereas Protestants displayed the best and most striking Bible they could find.

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Discrimination, no matter if it is towards whites, blacks, or any other ethnicity, should never be allowed. This makes affirmative action an unfair system that should be abolished (Economist). Furthermore, affirmative action breaks the Civil Rights Act of 1964, while also not following the 14th amendment, both of which state that no person should be given less rights than others (Britannica). It not only hurts those with a harder time getting in, but also those in the minority groups, as they are not fully prepared for what is to come. This causes their grades to drop, ultimately compelling them to either drop out or be unable to graduate.

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The policies of affirmative action combat racism in a very critical way in America. By using this program, this allows those who are “the preferred position of society” a chance to excel in a country that has allowed them to be oppressed for many years. Therefore, with the affirmative action policies, it undermines the racist institutions in the American psyche. This helps minorities such as African Americans, Hispanics, and many others to be given equal opportunity when it come to applying for college or a job. Although many would say that affirmative action is not needed anymore because America has changed significantly beyond the injustices that happened in the past, but the oppression and injustice of minorities and females has not approved much in America.

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In this essay, Affirmative Action is looked upon as a positive attribute to minorities as a whole. In addition, it is a stepping stone that was put into place for minorities to be able to thrive. With Affirmative Action, there are more fair opportunities for an individual other than a Caucasian male or female. Thomas Jefferson said, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are treated equally…” this was embedded in the American way of life, but are all men created equally? Minorities in America are already at a disadvantage from birth.

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Would you want to be paid back for the things that have happened in your family for generations? Affirmative Action is a policy that favors a disadvantaged person or group. A form of affirmative action would be giving a person of color the education they deserve , like getting into the colleges they qualify for. Affirmative action hinders equality by causing suffering and dropouts of minorities. Affirmative Action policies cause suffering or dropouts of certain people.

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Debates over racial discrimination have been going on since the beginning of America’s existence as a land of freedom. Today, arguments over racial microaggressions and affirmative action continue to plague our country. Affirmative action is a hotly contested racial consideration program that favors certain minorities in college admissions and the workplace. Some argue that any consideration of race discriminates against the majority and violates the Equal Protections Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, while others contend that it takes into consideration the disadvantages suffered by typically lower-class minority families and makes up for past discrimination against minorities. By upholding affirmative action, the Supreme Court ignored data

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“Affirmative action is not about quotas. It’s an attempt to open more opportunities for women and people of color through aggressive recruitment and outreach greater access to academic institutions and the workplace and not exclude people on the basis of race or gender.” (Holhut3) Actions or policy favoring those individuals who are subject to discrimination particularly in relation to employment or education is called Affirmative Action. Although affirmative action is not necessarily a form of equal treatment it is a form of fair treatment. Programs that attempt to break down the wall of segregation that excluded racial minorities and women from workplace and education include quotas, minority scholarships, reverse discrimination, preferential hiring and diversity have all been linked to affirmative action.

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According to “Race, Socioeconomic Status and Health: Complexities, Ongoing Challenges and Research Opportunities,” it is said that, “The data reveal remarkable increases in education over time with the percentage of blacks completing high school increasing fourfold from 20% in 1960 to 82% in 2006. Similarly, the percentage of whites completing high school doubled from 43% in 1960 to 86% in 2006. In 2006, the disparity between whites and blacks in high school graduation rates had narrowed dramatically from earlier years” (Williams). This data shows that not only a minority group has benefitted over time. Affirmative action may be targeting minority groups, but it is only doing that to help everyone be an educated, working member of society.

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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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Affirmative Action is a complex topic. Affirmative Action was created in order to eradicate or at least reduce discrimination and to make equal opportunity a reality. The pushing of equality is admirable but many people feel it is no longer necessary, that the goal of equal opportunity has already been achieved. That Affirmative Action now only serves to give minorities and women (both qualified and unqualified) an unfair advantage. Is Affirmative Action still needed in today’s world or should it be abolished?

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Affirmative action policies command attention because they tap into basic debates about fairness. As a nation, we say we are committed to fairness, but our history of achieving fairness for all individuals, regardless of race, ethnicity or gender, has been far from perfect. Any policy that reminds us of the difference between

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Assisting minorities to get certain jobs or into certain colleges isn’t the problem, but turning down those who are more qualified for the position is. Affirmative action as an idea that was brought about in the 1960’s in order to help minorities.

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