Argumentative Essay - Affirmative Action

One day, there were two people who went to a company for a job interview for only one job position. The first candidate graduated from a prestigious and highly academic university, had years of work experience in the field, and in the mind of the employer, had the potential to make a positive impact on the company's performance. The second candidate does not have a college degree and is just starting out in the field and seemed to lack the ambition that was visible in his opponent. Who do you think was hired for the position? If this story took place before 1964, the answer would be obvious. However, with the adoption of the social policy known as affirmative action, the answer becomes unclear. Affirmative action is a product of the civil rights era, that time from the late 1950s through the 1960s when African Americans fought to live as equal citizens in the country of their birth (Maltz, Leora, 2005). After the United States Congress passed the Civil Rights Act in 1964, it became apparent that certain business traditions, such as seniority status and aptitude tests, prevented total equality in employment. President Lyndon Johnson implemented and enforced affirmative action as the set of public policies and initiatives designed to help eliminate past and present discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, is under attack (Maltz, Leora, 2005). Affirmative action ensures that applicants are employed without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin (www.encyclopedia.com). But is equality far different from affirmative action? I believe the two are very different and strongly disagree with affirmative action. In my opinion, affirmative action creates inequality between races, lacks in strengthening diversity, and makes minority races appear weaker.
How is it equal to give one individual unfair advantage over another? During the times before and even shortly after the civil rights act was passed, the racial tension was

Cited: (2009). Retrieved from www.encyclopedia.com Farron, Steven. (2005). The Affirmative Actin Hoax. New York: Seven Locks Pr. Maltz, Leora. (2005). Affirmative Action. Farmington: Greenhaven Press. Plous, S. (2009). Retrieved 2009, from www.understandingprejudice.org Tatum, Beverly. (1999). Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? New York: Basic Books Publishing.