The Pros And Cons Of Affirmative Action

Many years had passed until Affirmative Action was again brought up in court. In 2003, the cases of Gratz v. Bollinger and Grutter v. Bollinger set the stage for another challenge against Affirmative Action, but the Supreme Court stood its ground again and a decision was made that an increase in the number of minority applicants at a university was not unconstitutional.
Affirmative Action was initially set in motion and passed as a law in order to alleviate a situation in which minorities were treated unfairly during the Civil Rights Movement, allowing for opportunities to be opened up for better employment, a hirer education and a better standing in society, however, the overall goal of Affirmative Action as being a policy that was supposed
to stop discrimination and make things equal among everyone in our society, it has created a much debated controversy of how effective it really is anymore and it has been accused of causing what we now call, reverse racism and discrimination. Minorities in society today have the exact same opportunities and in many states, what was considered a minority at one time, is really no longer a minority, leading to Affirmative Action actually giving a very unfair advantage to many. If you look at the State of California, Latin people are no longer the minority as of 2014, they are the majority, yet they still receive benefits as a minority, many see this as a reason for the laws to change again. Where minorities, such as African Americans and women were once held back and opportunities passed by them, this is no longer the case. Society has changed in order to allow everyone the same opportunities without discrimination. Opportunities are afforded to all minorities and women; the American dream is now something anyone has the chance to obtain.
Women have risen to great areas of power, not just in the United States, but all over the world, the United States now has an African American president, which many thought they would have never seen in their lifetime, these are examples of how Affirmative Action has done what it was initially set out to do, but these are also the reasons why there are many that feel it is time for Affirmative Action to come to an end. There is a strong belief that it is no longer needed, not because they want to go back to minorities and women being discriminated against, simply because it has no place in our society any longer, but there are also those that feel that Affirmative Action needs to stay in place, if it is removed then we will face a society that reverts back to racial and gender discrimination, especially in the workplace. The making of Affirmative Action into a law helped to create a more diverse, competitive and vigorous work environment and because of this the assaults on this law have always been upheld by the higher courts. There is no longer a majority of the white male, there is a large mix of every race, color, religions and gender, whereas, before Affirmative Action, the white male had the leading edge in employment, women and minorities were cast aside or passed over for hire as well as those with
disabilities.
Affirmative Action has worked so well to create this diverse workforce that many non-minorities are angry and upset over the fact that it still exists because they feel it has created an unfair advantage to minorities.
They feel that many minorities are given or shown favoritism when they are applying for jobs or that they are not given the same chance as a minority to attend certain schools, or get certain loans or get a promotion at their place of employment. They are even further angered that the Supreme Court does not agree with them when they try to prove that this is a form of reverse racism and
discrimination.
A question that many seem to keep asking is whether we still need Affirmative Action, has it caused the same problem in reverse that it originally set out to stop? They do not feel that Affirmative Action continues to support a society that is equal, where minorities have the same rights as everyone, yet the law still gives them an advantage over non-minorities. California initiated Proposition 209 in 1996, ensuring that citizens in California were not hired based on race, gender; it prohibited public institutions from discriminating on the basis of race, sex, or ethnicity. This is a step in the direction of getting rid of Affirmative Action and California is not the only state, Michigan, Washington, Florida, Nebraska, Arizona, New Hampshire and Oklahoma have all adopted similar bans on Affirmative Action, they no longer feel it supports an equal society and they no longer feel that is reasonable to show minorities favoritism.
We need to ensure that our society does not fall back in time by returning to old beliefs, women and minorities should never have the opportunities to succeed taken away from them and although Affirmative Action has done this since its inception, it may be time to remove this law due to our society being more diverse and equal than it has ever been.