Preview

Affirmative Action Has Outlived Its Usefullness

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1368 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Affirmative Action Has Outlived Its Usefullness
Affirmative Action Has Outlived Its Usefulness The goal of affirmative action is to compensate for past injuries which minorities endured. Affirmative action gives special privileges to minorities based solely on the color of their skin, not on their abilities or their financial situation. The goal of affirmative action is to remedy the injuries caused by discrimination. Yet after analyzing affirmative action one could determine that it seeks to cure discrimination with more discrimination. According to a study conducted by an economics professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz from 1997 to 2000 the number of African American business owners has increased by 31 percent. This number increased by an even more astounding 50 percent for African American women. Also women of minority decent make up 14.5 percent of America?s private sector workforce, a substantial increase from only a decade earlier. The women in this study were African American, Hispanic, Asian and Native American. Members from each group also gained employment as officials and managers. A Census conducted in 2000 showed that African American couples who stay together earned just about as much as white couples. The number of firms owned by minority women has increased 31.5% between 1997 and 2002 that?s more than twice as fast as all women-owned firms, and more than four times the national average. Further, based on recent growth rates, in 2002 there will be 14,116 minority women-owned firms with revenues of $1 million or more, and 111 with 100 or more employees.
Given these statistics it seems obvious that affirmative action is not needed for minorities to succeed in the work place. All that is needed for success is dedication and motivation. Advocates of Affirmative action claim to support equal opportunity and the elimination of discrimination on the basis of race, gender, ethnic background or any other standard that would deprive a person of opportunities to live and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Affirmative action is the policy in which schools give priority to students who tend to suffer from discrimination. The policy was intended to give minorities equal rights in the admission process, however nowadays, it gives an unfair preference to one group of students, as opposed to being equal. This leads into the discussion of racial discrimination. Opponents of the law say that affirmative action gives minorities an unfair advantage over non-minorities. On the other side, proponents of the law say affirmative action is the way to reverse the negative effects caused by years of racism and discrimination before 1961. I believe that affirmative action is a good sentiment to the minority community, however, I think it’s the incorrect approach to fix the problem. You can’t solve the problem of discrimination by creating more discrimination.…

    • 644 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The continuation of the application of affirmative action in the labor market. “Affirmative action is one of the most controversial government interventions in the labor market since the abolition of slavery.”(Jonathan Leonard) Affirmative action pertaining to the labor market takes a very different stance. Under Executive Order 11246 (part of the Civil Rights Act), “ you are not to discriminate against any employee because of race, color, religion and sex, as well as take affirmative action to ensure that there is a diversity of employees”. The contradiction of this statement is astonishing, and to have that nailed in the coffin known as our Constitution, is the ultimate blow on the use of this policy in the workplace. The fact that we must not consider race, but consider it in terms of diversity is overall a confusing concept and forced employers to establish ‘quotas’ to meet racial goals. This is very beneficial for white collar or craft jobs, where employers are hesitant to hire minorities or women because they do not believe they can handle the burden of the job. This maybe one of the only circumstances where federal pressure is advantageous, and statistics show that establishments are growing to give more job openings specially for african americans, hispanics and other minorities, decreasing its 89% white-hiring percentage. The effects of these kinds of policies are significant on a 99% confidence level or better, and have resulted in better representation in establishments(especially minority females) and also benefit companies in their own employment growth. However, these job openings are mainly in unskilled positions reducing the production of specially-skilled members of society, and basically producing only white specialties. Studied by Ashenfelter and Heckman(1976), taking african americans as an…

    • 2122 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Affirmative action applies to actual steps that are designed to not only lessen discrimination- whether in education, employment, or contracting- but also to try compensate the effects of past discrimination. The main motive for affirmative action is the Constitutional principle of equal opportunity, which believes that people with equal abilities should have the same opportunities. Affirmative action is a term of prevalent application relating to government policies that directly or indirectly compensate professional schools and admission to universities, jobs, and other social goods and resources to persons on the basis of membership to particular protected groups in order to pay back those groups for past discrimination caused by the society as whole. Affirmative actions are steps taken to amend conditions effecting from past discrimination or violating a law, especially with connection to employment. Gerapetritis (2011,25) writes that it is a program , in which is a management tool is intended to assure equal opportunity in hiring, recruiting, promoting, training, and compensating individuals. Affirmative action programs distinguish broadly in the extent to which they strive to stop discrimination. Some programs might solely associate reviews of the hiring process for minorities, women, and other affected groups. While other affirmative programs even completely prefer members of affected groups. In such programs, they use minimum job requirements to make a pool of qualified applicants so that members of the affected group are given a chance.…

    • 1463 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rowan's Argument Analysis

    • 539 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Affirmative action amounts to positive discrimination designed to correct historical injustices against the disadvantaged in the society. Affirmative action main focus is to work on correcting the social injustices by adjusting the characteristics that were used to advance the discrimination.…

    • 539 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In this essay I will expose what I see as the shortcomings of the current…

    • 1733 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Affirmative action is a policy with a set of criteria’s designed to ensure equality for all groups within a society to provide everyone with an equal opportunity to obtain success. Affirmative action in American society is renowned for allowing minorities and women a chance for equal access to education and a chance to access equal employment. Affirmative action can lead to the adoption of quotas for jobs and colleges in which a certain amount of potential employees or appointments must come from formerly underrepresented groups of people.…

    • 1495 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rocket boys

    • 801 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Affirmative action is the broad spectrum of policies designed to redress inequalities in employment and education through a system of preferences to minorities according to Ellen Bailey of Yale University. It was originally designed to help improve opportunities for African Americans during the civil rights movement; however it soon grew to include other minorities groups and women too. In the United States where individuals in certain social, racial, gender and economic groups have distinct advantages to education and jobs, affirmative action provides important opportunities that would otherwise be closed to many people who do not belong to these groups. Until each person is allowed to pursue his or her goals unfettered by institutional and personal discrimination, affirmative action is absolutely necessary.…

    • 801 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Some politicians and philosophers think that affirmative actions is bound to fail because a programme that is based on race is unlikely to move society to a point where race no longer counts. Many statistics prove the fact that affirmative action has in fact failed. If we look at the rate of college graduates, employed workers, income, the black population tends to continue to lag behind the white population. If we look at the Congress, 85% of the Congress consists of White Americans compared to just 8.1% African Americans. In terms of income, African Americans are way behind White Americans, in 2009, the median net worth of whites was $113,149 where as the median net worth of the black population was only $5,677. This is a huge difference. If such a difference still exists then clearly affirmative action is not working. If we look in terms of education and getting a job after graduating from college, a report has stated that African-American college students are about as likely to get hired as white who have dropped out of high school. This shows how the white population still have an advantage has they have an equal chance of getting a job…

    • 1031 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Affirmative action is an instituted list of policies to make up for past discrimination against groups based on race, religion, national origin, and gender. From its beginning, affirmative action has given minority groups opportunities for employment, promotion at work, new business ownership, school admission, scholarships and financial aid. President Lyndon B. Johnson introduced affirmative action during the civil rights era in 1965. It was used "as a method of redressing discrimination that had persisted in spite of civil rights laws and constitutional guarantees." (Brunner) The purpose of affirmative action was to end racial inequality and set a level playing field for all races. Affirmative action allowed minorities a fair chance to pursue education and career advancement. It originally was intended for temporary assistance and was supposed to crush existing racially biased ideas in society. What was once a noble and valiant idea in 1965…

    • 1618 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The affirmative action has served its purpose, and therefore is no longer needed. A lot of people also say that because of the implementation of this law many people who are qualified for a specific position has lost that spot to someone who is…

    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1972 The Equal Opportunities Act of 1972 set up a commission to enforce the…

    • 925 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Affirmative Action - 10

    • 625 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Affirmative action has been used throughout history to decide whether or not "minority" status American citizens should have a voice. Affirmative action refers to an action or policy favoring those who tend to suffer from discrimination in relation to employment, education etc. This topic has been very controversial in both the past and present. It has been commonly used in the college acceptance process in order to include different cultures and ethnicity's into schools. This process should be used, to a degree, to help minorities make better future for themselves. Affirmative action should be used because it gives people or students a better chance to reach their full potential in career, a higher chance of moving out of poverty, it helps liberate them from oppression and gives them a chance to win the race commonly won by the majority.…

    • 625 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Affirmative Action

    • 790 Words
    • 4 Pages

    As stated by www.balencedpolitics.org, It demeans true minority achievement; example – Success is labeled as a result of affirmative action rather than hard work and ability. To me this deems so true. When it comes to getting a job, companies should not have to worry about pleasing the laws of this government when it comes to equal rights but instead should give jobs out to the more qualified people. I am not stating at all that all Caucasians are more qualified then African Americans, Hispanics, etc. I just think that the person who's most qualified, regardless of ethnic background or skin color should get the job, end of story. The first time I learned about Affirmative…

    • 790 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In a country the size of the United States, different races and different views on the equality of each race exist. Affirmative Action was a put in place by the Federal Government to help conserve the protection of rights towards minorities, whether it be determined by race or sex, during the time after the civil war when they people were still being discriminated upon based on these two aspects. Affirmative Action created a situation that allowed minorities a guaranteed spot within a workplace or a school, eliminating racism and allowing the minority to be recognized for its accomplishments. This may not have been the best solution for the problem but at the time it was put in place it was a necessary mean to try and correct an evil. Affirmative Action is still in place today even though it shouldn’t be. It creates discrimination by trying to get rid of it. Administration officers and CEO’s of companies feel the need to fill the percentage that they were given so they turn their backs on more qualified persons. With Affirmative Action, a white man may lose a chance to get a job or go to college, simply because the position must be filled with a black man, to meet the designated quota assigned. Also majorities look down on the minorities who get into colleges and get jobs over them by saying that they only got the job because someone just needed to get the spot filled so that they wouldn’t get shut down. This makes the minority feel worse about themselves because really don’t know if they got into the school or got the job based on their own merits or not. People in todays society want to make the most money possible so they will hire who they believe will do the best job whether it be an African American woman or a middle aged white man. Affirmative Action was a necessary step to correct the wrong doings of our ancestors, but is not the correct solution,…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Affirmative action is a controversial topic topic, especially in American society. Affirmative action is an active effort to improve the employment or education opportunities of members of minority groups and women. It also means a similar effort to promote the rights of other disadvantaged persons. In America, affirmative action is for a disadvantaged group to have equal opportunities, regardless of: race, religion/creed, sex, national origin, and disability (OFCCP). Many surround the words affirmative action around race, but socioeconomic status, gender, and various other background characteristics play a role. These factors and more especially in the realm of education. Affirmative action is beneficial due to its history and who it affects.…

    • 1385 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays