Affirmative Action
In my opinion, it is ridiculous to judge affirmative action programs under the same standard (strict scrutiny) as other forms of racial discrimination. The reality is that, due to a lengthy history of intentional race-based discrimination, certain minorities (especially African-Americans) have not had the same educational and employment opportunities as non-minorities. Therefore, minority students, even those whose inherent capabilities are equivalent to high-achieving non-minority students, do not generally have the same home-based resources to help them attain high academic achievement. For example, minority parents are frequently less-educated and less able to provide assistance with home and school work, which can be essential for a child's educational success. In addition, minority students do not generally have the same access to advantages based on finances, such as standardized test tutoring and homework tutoring, which can make a tremendous difference in GPA and standardized test scores. To ignore the impact that the history of racism continues to have on today's young people, simply continues a system perpetuating a race-based underclass. However, the reality is that, if affirmative action programs and other civil rights remedies are successful, then minorities and non-minorities will be able to compete for educational opportunities on equal footing. The Court sets that time period at 25 years, and seems to do so based on the fact that this case arose 25 years after the Court first authorized the use of race as a criterion for admissions. Looking at the changes that have occurred in the past 25 years, the Court believes that the United States may see sufficient changes in the next 25 years to erase the vestiges of slavery and racism.
It is important to realize that the University of Michigan's consideration of race in the admissions process was not to correct for past discrimination, but to provide a diverse student body. Therefore, it believed that it achieved a critical mass of minority students when its number of students was sufficient to prevent isolation of a minority student, to educate the entire student-body about minority issues, and to challenge stereotypes. Because the Court did not adopt the law school's viewpoint that a critical mass of minority students was essential, the Court did not outline how a law school would achieve that goal.
Works Cited
Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306 (2003).
Affirmative action policies grew out of a need to address the historic discrimination against minorities and women. Since its inception, affirmative action has helped open the door for many minorities seeking gainful employment and higher education. However, the same policies have also spawned charges of reverse discrimination against others and, paradoxically, of harming the very people they were intended to help. This paper looks at whether affirmative action policies remain relevant
Affirmative Action Lit Review Affirmative Action Review of Literature Has Affirmative Action outlived its use in today's society? And if so should the program change or simply come to an end? The issue of Affirmative Action (AA) is one that is currently being hotly debated by both policy makers and the public. Like racism itself there are many opinions all of which are run the gamut between logical and illogical and constructive and
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
Furthermore, it is also believed that the evolution of American society is at a point where all forms of discrimination can be done away with. Dworkin therefore appears to advocate a simple acceptance of all affirmative action programs in terms of their original intention; to redress the collectivist wrongs perpetrated against a collective sector of society, by another collective. In this, those belonging to the historically repressive collective should,
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
Criticism of Affirmative Action Over the years, specific criticisms of Affirmative Action have developed as a result of the endless debate and legal wrangling over the issue, as well as the division in American society about the topic. The first criticism of Affirmative Action to consider is the assertion that the burden of compensating victims of discrimination usually becomes the responsibility of those who are not individually responsible for the discrimination