Affirmative Action In America

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.
Affirmative action does work, to an extent.
The idea of affirmative action has been deeply rooted in American history, and it has given basis for many of the laws and ideology that are instilled in society today. Affirmative Action before the 1960s was primarily for disadvantaged Caucasian American citizens. During the late 1600s Caucasian people were used as indentured slaves until they were replaced with the free labor of enslaved Africans/African-Americans. The Naturalization Act 1790 was legislation that paved the way for European immigrants, at the time a group of minorities, to be naturalized. This gave immigrants the right as an American citizen to buy and own land, which meant more income and power. After the Indian Removal Act in 1830, in 1862 The Homestead Act gave millions of acres of Indian Territory west of the Mississippi to primarily Caucasian settlers who made a living off the land and being the first to explore a new frontier ("11 Acts by The US Government That Proves White Affirmative Action Has Been The Status Quo Throughout U.S. History."). Affirmative action after the 1960s was for the development of racial minorities, and women. Affirmative action was a term introduced by President Kennedy in 1961. The laws and procedures were developed and enforced by President Johnson when he signed the Civil RIghts Act of 1964 and in Executive Order 11246 in 1965 (Brunner). Regents of the University v. Bakke was the Supreme Court case that place limits on affirmative action to ensure that the increase of opportunities for minorities did not come at the expense of the majority. This case wanted to create less rigidity for minority quotas. Fullilove v. Klutznick was the Supreme Court case that deemed some modest quotas constitutional (Brunner). In 1995, President Clinton called for a reform in affirmative action in that any program that “(a) creates a quota; (b) creates preferences for unqualified individuals; (c) creates reverse discrimination; or (d) continues even after its equal opportunity purposes have been achieved.” (Brunner) In the Supreme Court case Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action the Supreme Court upheld the Michigan ban on considering race in college admissions. This just confirms that this ruling is constitutionally possible. Affirmative action bares many names and it achieves various tasks throughout the world. A common theme through world history depicts society’s ability to have empathy and sympathy for those with less opportunity, and less privilege. Thus proving that affirmative action works.

Affirmative action affects people in their daily lives, but as of modern times affirmative action is deeply tied into education which affects housing, and job opportunities. Many have the common misconception that race is the only factor that is considered in the topic of affirmative action. Representative Howard W. Smith added sex into the Title VII amendment, Civil Rights Act of 1964, as a way to dissuade the ruling to go into effect since the thought of women having equal rights was absurd (Highhouse). Since this did not work, race and sex were added as reasons why people could not be discriminated against. Title IX also reinforced the idea of protection of discrimination in colleges. With this amendment women are able to take engineering and woodshop courses, while men are able to take home economics (Boyd). Thus breaking gender norms, and giving women an increased chance to succeed. Affirmative action has been helpful for women as a whole, but Caucasian women have benefited the most from affirmative action. In a 1995 study, 6 million, primarily Caucasian women, would have been unemployed if it were not for affirmative action (Wise). Though women have had great strides in equalizing the playing field for education and jobs, there are still some aspects that need aid. For instance, the wage gap between men and women. Currently women are more likely to graduate from college, but they are still likely to earn less (Bidwell). Women earn approximately 77 cents for every dollar men earn ("Frequently Asked Questions about Affirmative Action."). There is also a wage gap between races and ethnicities. Latinas earn 56 cents to every dollar that a Caucasian man earns. African-American men earn 75 of Caucasian men earn ("Frequently Asked Questions about Affirmative Action.").
It is a common misconception that race is a small factor in American life, but in reality it plays a larger role than people want or think.
UC Berkeley hosted an Affirmative Action Bake Sale to criticize affirmative action policies. At the sale Caucasian men were charged $2, Asians charged $1.50, Latinos charged $1, African-Americans charged 75 cents, Native Americans charged 25 cents, and women of each respective race get 25 cents off. In regards to education 64.4% of college students are Caucasian and 13.1% students are African-American ("How Many People Go To College Every Year?"), but Caucasian students recieve 75.7% of Merit based grants and African-American students recieve 9.5% (Kantrowitz). These are disproportionate figures, and a case of affirmative action working, to an extent. Eight states ban race-based affirmative action at all public universities (California, Washington, Michigan, Nebraska, Arizona, and Oklahoma) through voter referenda (Potter). But without race-based affirmative action in place the acceptance of African-American students dropped from 33.7% to 12.2%, latino students dropped from 26.8% to 12.9%, while the Caucasian students had a 0.5% increase and Asian students would fill nearly four out of every five places of admitted African-american and Latino students, with their acceptance rate rising from about 18% to more than 23% (Espenshade). Removing race-based affirmative action considerations would have little effect on Caucasian people,
contrary to popular belief.
There is classism in the U.S and that affects both race and gender.
In 2010 there were 6 million Latinos, 5 million African-Americans, 5 million Caucasians, and 547,000 Asian-Americans that were in poverty under the age of 18. If ties between the poor and labor force were improved, low-income schooling would be better to improve the quality of workers coming from those areas (Reed) Those that have lower income would have assistance from affirmative action, which would move away from race-based affirmative action policies. States that removed race-based affirmative action, they replaced it with socioeconomic affirmative action, which takes into consideration where an individual lives, and their family’s monetary value. A study conducted at the University of Texas at Austin showed during 1996 when race was used during admission 4.1% of African-American students were accepted, and 14.5% of Latino students were accepted, but during 2004 when they used socioeconomic status and the top 10% plan (anyone who is in the top 10% of their class gets admission) African-american students admission raised to 4.5% and Latino student acceptance rose to 16.9%
(Kahlenberg).
Between 1987 and 1994 the average percentage of Blacks who believe that every possible effort to improve the position of Blacks and other minorities was 66.2%. While Whites average out is 21.8% (Crosby). Those in a position of privilege, the American stereotype being a Caucasian, anglo-saxon, male, protestant, who lives in a middle or upper class community with access to a more than decent education, and other amenities, many not need affirmative action. Affirmative action is for those who do not have opportunities or privileges in their favor, and in the case of most it works.
Affirmative action gives disadvantaged groups equal opportunities regardless of their characteristics. Some believe that affirmative action is necessary in creating equality, diversity, and togetherness, while others believe that affirmative action opens doors for inequality, uniformity, and segregation. While everyone has their evidence and opinions the question still stands: Does affirmative action work? Yes, but to an extent. “All that is valuable in human society depends upon the opportunity for development accorded the individual”- Albert Einstein