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¶ … Affirmative Action?
Just about everyone has heard of affirmative action these days, but just what is it, really? Is it something only minorities really benefit from? Is it really as controversial as some people seem to think? Affirmative action is a term people use, but what it really means can be very misleading.
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines affirmative action as "positive steps taken to increase the representation of women and minorities in areas of employment, education, and business from which they have been historically excluded" ("Affirmative Action"). "Positive steps" can mean many things, but here, they are meant to mean that women and minorities should enjoy the same rights and opportunities that anyone else in this country enjoys. It sounds simple, and it was meant to be simple, but the entire idea of affirmative action has become very controversial.
Affirmative action was not a widely used term until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed into legislation. The term was associated with the Act, but still was not very common. It really...
The Stanford Encyclopedia continues, "Affirmative action, if it did not impose preferences outright, at least countenanced them" ("Affirmative Action"). Therefore, affirmative action became increasingly controversial and disliked by many people.
Results, Effects, and Uses: Discuss the consequences and uses of the subject.
That did not stop affirmative action from gaining ground across the country. It was the law, and it was commonly used for educational admissions, employee hiring, and even guaranteeing that…
References
"Affirmative Action." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 4 March 2005. 14. Oct. 2005.
< http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/affirmative-action / >
This is a particular problem at the nation's colleges and universities. This has become so much of an issue that law suits and verdicts have been handed down in some states. One of the most famous cases to date involved the University of Michigan's undergraduate and law school policies. These cases are Gratz v. Bollinger and Grutter v. Bollinger. In 1997, Jennifer Gratz, a white woman, sued the University of
Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity The policies of affirmative action aiming at assisting the black Americans are of recent origin. The policies have sought its origin to varied sources like legal structure, executive instructions, and court rulings. It was during the last three decades that these policies were being developed and they have become debatable as well. (Legal History) During the last three decades of the nineteenth century, a large number of African-Americans
With this ruling the Court upheld legality of affirmative action. In considering the reasoning behind the Court's upholding of the highly debated principle, the rationale was that to remedy past discrimination, a program that is race-based must be put into effect. Clearly, the Court was concerned with becoming intertwined in the daily administration of academic programs, and the same would have likely held true for the workplace. The Bakke case had
White Privilege and Affirmative Action White Privilege Some people believe that the color of a person's skin matters a great deal in this world, that this racial marker determines the opportunities and potential successes that a person may have in their lifetime. Many people, particularly those who belong to historically marginalized groups such as African-Americans, Native Americans, or Hispanics, believe that being Caucasian or white guarantees an individual certain rights and privileges
Instead of pretending that racism and its effects no longer exist, we need to strengthen affirmative action and devise a new set of policies that directly tackle the racial gap in wealth." (Derrity, 1). That, in a nutshell, is the position of this paper. America has not given affirmative action enough time to act. Moving forward, we should continue our affirmative action policies, but with an end in mind. Economists
Bureaucracies can become self-justifying systems, and replicate ineffective administrative behaviors long after they have ceased to work. The Winter Commission Report (1993) was an attempt to provide advice to states and the federal government on the subject of civil service reform. Both bureaucratic as well as political reforms were deemed necessary to 'clean up' the civil service system and render it more effective in addressing the needs of the public.