Affirmative Action

1 Pages 348 Words

The original goal of the civil rights movement had been "color-blind" laws. However, many people believed that simply ending a long-standing policy of discrimination did not go far enough. They believed that affirmative measures to increase equality were necessary that’s why affirmative action was created.

Affirmative Action, are policies used in the United States to encourage the increase of opportunities for women and minorities like favoring them in hiring and promotion, college admissions, salary increases, career advancement or scholarships. Depending upon the situation, “minorities” might include any underrepresented group, especially one defined by race, ethnicity, or gender. Generally, affirmative action has been undertaken by governments, businesses, or educational institutions to remedy the effects of past discrimination against a group, whether by a specific entity, such as a corporation, or by society as a whole.

Critics charge that affirmative action policies, which give preferential treatment to people based on their membership in a group, violate the principal that all individuals are equal under the law. These critics argue that it is unfair to discriminate against members of one group today to compensate for discrimination against other groups in the past. They regard affirmative action as a form of reverse discrimination that unfairly prevents whites and men from being hired and promoted.

But in the other side discrimination is, by definition, an unfair treatment of people because they belong to a certain group. Therefore, effective solutions must be given to aid groups that have suffered from discrimination.

We might achieve one of the goals of affirmative action namely, increasing diversity in higher education by improving the odds for minority student engaging them in a high-quality education at every level.

Affirmative action policies are the only way to ensure an integrated society in which a...