Affirmative Action System Essay

Affirmative action has deep roots within the American workforce as well as the schooling system. Once used as a system to prevent racism and discrimination during the civil rights era, affirmative action has remained a part of American culture. Although many Americans may not be entirely aware of its use, all of them are affected by it. The effects and uses of this system can be seen through the history, public opinion and finally, how it can be fixed or changed to better fit modern times. The official definition of affirmative action is “an action or policy favoring those who tend to suffer from discrimination, especially in relation to employment or education; positive discrimination.” This system was implemented
as a safeguard for racial minorities, in order to protect them from the racism and discrimination that they faced during this era of civil rights. Affirmative action was implemented by President John F. Kennedy in executive order 10925 in the order he says “Take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin”. it was later developed further and enforced by President Lyndon B.
Johnson in executive order 11246 on September 24, 1965. Although it did not seem to have a large impact until it came upon the issue of university enrollment. The argument became a large one, with this system universities began to implement racial quotas, and example of this is the Medical School of the University of California at Davis which would set aside sixteen out of one hundred seats for racial minorities. It was finally settled in the landmark supreme court case Regents of University of California v. Bakke (1978). In which Bakke, a white student, sued the school saying that the racial quotas discriminated against him
because he was white. The supreme court came to the decision that racial quotas were not allowed as they were unconstitutional because they gave unequal opportunity.However, affirmative action systems were allowed so long as they served a compelling governmental interest and were tailored to meet that interest. Although affirmative action systems are allowed they require strict scrutiny. The government rejected the idea that it was their responsibility to undertake righting the historical wrongs committed against minorities. However, in the 1970’s America reached the highest point of affirmative action cases, and since then the courts has looked less favorable upon affirmative action. Due to the strict scrutiny given on affirmative action cases many were shot down. An example of this is the court case Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Peña, which dealt with the preference of hiring racial minorities as subcontractors for governmentally funded projects. Although it was under strict scrutiny there was still opposition for affirmative action, similar to the case of Regents of University of California v. Bakke (1978) many believed, like Bakke, that the majority was being discriminated against with the use of affirmative action. Fronted by "angry white men," a reaction against affirmative action started to form. To conservatives, the system was a zero-sum game that opened a gateway for careers, promotions, or schooling to minorities while it closed on whites. In a nation that prized the values of independence and pulling oneself up by one's bootstraps, conservatives hated some minorities were getting a free ride on the American framework that didn't deserve it. "Preferential treatment" and "quotas" became words of contempt. These court cases truly set the precedent for the use of affirmative action in the United States and affected the modern use of this system. The support for affirmative action still remains strong today. Many support it because affirmative action allows minorities to have an equal playing field for everyone when it comes to schooling. Diversity is an integral part, yet without a deliberate push to pull in students and faculty from various backgrounds, advanced education communities would not be any more diverse. In a diverse setting students and faculty can learn a lot from associating and speaking with individuals from various backgrounds by finding out about their culture and history. This opportunity kills stereotypes. In classrooms with individuals from various ethnicities, students and employees can take in new points of view from each other. For individuals who have been tested in their lives (e.g. by monetary hardship), affirmative action gives an opportunity to demonstrate what they can accomplish. Racial and sexual divisions still exist in our nation. Affirmative action tries to make a level playing field to help individuals adjust for that reality. Generally speaking, ethnic minorities are excellent resources for colleges, schools and businesses. Their efforts adds to the quality of a school or workplace. Another pillar of support for affirmative action is the fact that it is still upheld and supported by the courts. Out of the fifty states in the nation, eight states currently ban race-based affirmative action at all public universities. These states are California, Washington, Michigan, Nebraska, Arizona, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Oklahoma. The 2016 court case Fisher v. UT Austin upheld affirmative action within universities. In the supreme court opinion, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said “Considerable deference is owed to a university in defining those intangible characteristics, like student body diversity, that are central to its identity and educational mission….But still, it remains an enduring challenge to our Nation’s education system to reconcile the pursuit of diversity with the constitutional promise of equal treatment and dignity”. But as it is with many arguments, there is an opposing side to affirmative action. Within the last decade or so the public opinion of affirmative action has been relatively stable, most people believe that affirmative action shouldn’t be allowed. According to a recent poll done by Gallup.com, sixty-seven percent, or two thirds, of Americans believe that college admissions should be based solely off of merit, race should not be considered. Many argue that although affirmative action was a good idea and had a good start when discrimination and racism ran rampant among the citizens of our nation, it is no longer necessary. They argue that affirmative action is looking for a solution to a problem that no longer exists, we live in an age where all are treated equal and it is no longer necessary to try and give certain races an advantage over others. As well as that affirmative action often times only helps the minority applicants who are within the middle and upper class families. Which takes away from the lower class white and asian families who actually meet the university's requirements and have done well in their education. A common question asked by those who oppose the system is, why should the under-qualified son of a black doctor displace the qualified daughter of a Vietnamese boat refugee? An example used against affirmative action is the the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. The Israeli Law of Return grants citizenship to any Jew from anywhere in the world. This is viewed as discrimination against non-Jews by many, especially Palestinians that cannot apply for citizenship or return to the territory which they were expelled from or fled. The question of whether or not the Jews should be given priority for citizenship even though they are the minority be allowed is asked by many. Should the disadvantaged Jews be given priority over the other non-jews because they were once discriminated against with something as important as citizenship. There are many groups that have become activists against affirmative action. Recently about one-hundred University of Illinois students joined together to try and fight affirmative action. They did so by creating a bake sale. However this was no ordinary bake sale, the group illustrated its opposition by assigning different price points to the items in the bake sale, identified as different groups of people: the sign said “Asians,” cost two dollars; “Hispanics/Latinos” were priced at one dollar and fifty cents. Women, Negative twenty-five cents. The protesters said “Affirmative action has not decreased racial discrimination; it has promoted it. Affirmative action is bad economic policy. Our economy functions best when the most qualified individuals are given access to resources that will help them innovate and create jobs. By biasing the availability of these resources away from individuals with the highest level of academic achievement, affirmative action acts as a direct hindrance to economic growth”. The event raised many protesters of their own, they formed a ring around the bake sale in order to dissuade people from purchasing the products. The event went under strict observation from the university faculty, stating that if they were charging different prices based on race that it was indeed legitimate racism and would go under investigation. So it is important to note that all of the products were indeed sold at the same price for all races and genders, it was simply to prove a point and voice their beliefs on affirmative action. Although there are those who support affirmative action still, it is a general consensus that the system is broken and needs to be fixed.
However, the solution for this problem has yet to be found but there are many options. The first option is to just completely abolish affirmative action completely, This is supported by many who oppose affirmative action, however this raises the problem of those that are truly disadvantaged, regardless of race or social class will not receive help. Some may argue this envelops the “American Values” of independence and everyone trying to be successful on their own. The second option is to make affirmative action based on social and economic class and not consider race at all. If a person truly is disadvantaged then race should not
matter.
Affirmative Action might seem like a justifiable thing in some aspects, but the real problem is the lower level education systems. Where only four-percent of black students are prepared for university level biology.. The most obvious solution is that schools today need more funding so that they can actually provide the quality of education that all students need in order for them to succeed in higher level education. Forcing kids into college is not the answer. That thinking is like taking a Vitamin C when you have a cold. The real problems need to be fixed so a cure can be found.