..aims to compensate people for past discrimination and its effects. A main effect of past discrimination is current competitive disadvantage; affirmative action gives victims a competitive advantage to compensate for this injury." (1998) the Discrimination-blocking affirmative action according to Anderson: "...aims to block current discriminatory mechanisms by imposing a countervailing force in the opposite direction. It doesn't remove the factors -- prejudice, stereotypes, stigma, intergroup anxiety -- that cause discrimination;

Affirmative Action is an extremely important concept since it is vital to the operation of America as a democracy. It reinforces the affirmation of the Constitution that all people are born equal and should, therefore, be given an equal chance to prove themselves. Employment opportunity (and other factors) should be based on merit rather than on extraneous factors such as skin color, race, gender, physiology, and so forth. The Federal Register

Affirmative Action - Should Race be a Factor in Deciding College Admissions? Should race be a deciding factor for college admissions? The debate is one that is hotly contested among students and administrators alike. Many feel that in a tight job market acquiring a college educational is an essential prerequisite for career advancement (Worsnop, 1996) thus competition for admission to many of the nation's best universities is increasing. In addition tuition expenses

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

Affirmative Action is the set of public policies and initiatives designed to help eliminate past and present discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Affirmative action was set into place during the 1960's. Focusing in particular on education and jobs, affirmative action policies required that active measures be taken to ensure that blacks and other minorities enjoyed the same opportunities for promotions, salary increases, career advancement, school

Perhaps it's time that politics follows suit. Without denying that we are indeed diverse, it is necessary to recognize that we are all human beings. Diversity makes us human, but discrimination violates the potential bonds of friendship within the societies in the United States. Politicians and federal officials might do well to revisit the meaning of the constitution and of the very name of the country: we are United, diverse,