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The Pros And Cons Of Affirmative Action

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Affirmative Action by definition is “the practice of improving the educational and job opportunities of members of groups that have not been treated fairly in the past because of their race, sex, etc”. (Merriam Webster). Affirmative action was thought of as a remedy towards African Americans who have been discriminated against over generations. While Affirmative Action’s intentions are good, giving the minority a chance and helping them obtain a better life, it does not solve the problem with discrimination or promote equality in the workplace and education. Affirmative Action has only led to reverse discrimination, promotes biasing in colleges and workplaces, and contradicts Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream of equality between races. Affirmative …show more content…

He also slashed the budget of the major agency for enforcing affirmative action against federal contractors. “In his first budget, Reagan cut funds for the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs by 12 percent, from $49 million to $43 million. Measured in constant dollars, the agency's budget continued to fall through the Reagan and Bush presidencies. By 1992, its $54.7 million budget amounted to only $39 million in 1982 dollars”. Reagan's actions changed the federal government's stance in affirmative action cases from support to opposition. Reagan’s two attorneys general William French Smith and Edwin Meese III both opposed affirmative action, as well as the head of the department's Civil Rights Division, William Bradford Reynolds. Reynolds declared the department would oppose any quotas or numerical or statistical formulas in employment cases except to provide relief in proven cases of individual discrimination (Rethinking Affirmative …show more content…

Professor Rogers Elliott of Dartmouth College said that “The most elite universities have very high levels in their admission standards, levels which minorities – especially blacks, don’t come close to meeting. [Thus], Affirmative Action in elite schools, which they pursue vigorously and successfully, leaves a huge gap, probably bigger than it would be for affirmative action at an average school. Elite institutions are very performance oriented. They deliberately take people at a very high level to begin with – with a few exceptions – and then they make them perform, and they do a pretty good job of it. If you are not ready for the first science course, you might as well forget it. They take their first course, lets say chemistry; at least 90 percent of the students in the course are bright, motivated, often pre-med, highly competitive whites and Asians. And these [minority] kids aren’t as well-prepared. They may get their first C- or D in a course like that because the grading standards are rigorous, and you have to start from day one” (Rethinking Affirmative Action). From reading Professor Rogers Elliot’s quote, Affirmative Action will do more harm than good for minorities. Minorities are being accepted into elite level schools such as Harvard and Yale where they are accepted in based on their skin color rather than their academic prowess.

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Like “c”, the quality of the students has diminished. Not only that think about the job professions were affirmative action have people that shouldn’t be qualified to take jobs like doctor and engineering and scientist because of affirmative

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Affirmative action policies promote diversity in public spaces, which will prepare students for future after graduation. This is essential because the world has become rapidly diverse, especially in the United States. Furthermore, affirmative action provides an environment for minority students in which they can have more chances to overcome their handicaps and to compete equally. From many aspects, minorities still have many obstacles to excel in this society, especially due to their socioeconomic status. Proponents of affirmative action programs assert that non-minority students blame their failure on this policy.

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Gratz and Hull are not alone on the defense side of affirmative action. In his article “University Affirmative Action Admissions Policies Are Toxic,” Robert Cherry asserts that “affirmative action admissions policies disportionately accept students with lower-than-average test score and grades. As a result, they are not adequately prepared for the rigors of top-tier universities.” In making this comment, Cherry clearly favors for affirmative action to be taken out of higher education. He supports his argument with data that suggest that minorities are not performing as well as whites because some colleges lower their standards in order to accept more minorities.

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Affirmative Action Affirmative Action is a policy or program intended to redress past discrimination and promote equal opportunities in education and employment. This is a highly controversial and well known topic, especially when considering it as part of college admissions. Many argue that colleges and universities should consider a student’s race and national origin when reviewing submitted applications. This is merely an attempt to create a more diverse student body, and assure that discrimination not occur. Although there is evidence to support that Affirmative Action is beneficial to the college and its student body, it should not exists in admissions because it limits the number of qualified non-minority students admitted.

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At least four Supreme Court justices believe that affirmative action is unconstitutional. Chief Justice John Roberts has said that “the way to stop discriminating on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race”. This viewpoint offers no differentiation between “race consciousness” and “racism”, but is a quite common opinion. This sort of viewpoint is what may drive America towards class-based rather than race-based affirmative action. Because of the disparities in income and wealth, minorities are as likely as whites to benefit under a class-based policy.

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This shows inherent biases in the public school system that accumulate over time to hinder the success of minority students. Due to the disadvantages minority students have to face in high school, Affirmative Action programs take into account these disadvantages and combat them with advantages in the admissions processes. However, this can create unfair advantages to certain groups of students. Let’s examine two types of students: a wealthy black student who lives in the suburbs of Silicon Valley and a poor white student who grows up in downtown Detroit.

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No real benefit to students admitted under affirmative action programs exists, as these students often struggle to meet standards. This idea is part of the mismatch theory (Sander 4). Even though African American students are more likely to start college than white students from similar backgrounds, white students are less likely to drop out, and therefore, more likely to graduate (Sanders 4). Improper matching of students ability with rigor of a school causes this phenomenon. In order to meet racial admission quotas, a school may admit a student who does not necessarily meet all the requirements.

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When it comes to the topic of affirmative action, most of us would agree that taking

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A research directed by Professor Douglas S. Massey, Margarita Mooney and Kimberly C. Torres from Princeton University, stated that “41 percent of the "blacks" at the Ivy League colleges were not "American blacks"( Driscoll and Newton 2). Although these “blacks” help increase diversity at the Ivy League colleges, the problems here is that Affirmative Action was designed to end segregation in the United States so that the offspring of minority groups who struggled in US history can also get the chance to go to school, but the reality is a huge percent of black people in elite higher education institution are actually socioeconomically advantaged immigrants. Therefore, Affirmative Action does not reach its essential

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E. O. C.) quotas. How do you expect these American companies, shackled by the Affirmative Action rules and regulations, to compete in the global market places with companies in China where Affirmative Action does not exist? When look back at college admissions, many critics argue that racial preferences in college admissions hurt minority students more than they help them. Schools relax their academic standards to admit more minority students and under-represented students who enter with lower academic credentials and lower test scores end up concentrated at the bottom of the schools. Students of any race, who fall to the bottom of their class rank are unlikely to persevere and succeed in life.

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One of the main policy interventions of Affirmative Action is putting racial preference in granting admissions and financial aid packages. So, well represented groups perceive that their chance of receiving admission or financial aid and entering a higher education institute is negatively influenced by these policies. As a result, the social stereotypes regarding low merit of minorities who enter higher education increases. Minority groups find it difficult to integrate on campus, and their academic performance is negatively affected. So, minorities will drop out of school with higher rates and this will reinforce the negative stereotypes against minorities

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Affirmative

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Despite low ACT and SAT scores, black students who are unprepared scholastically are admitted into universities only to later struggle academically (Kahlenberg, 1996). Does it matter if

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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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