Support for Affirmative Action

As you look around college campuses you will see many people of different color and gender. What if most schools was dominated by only one color or gender? This is what would occur if affirmative action no longer existed. Today, affirmative action is one of the most controversial issues discussed amongst society.

Affirmative action helps minorities. It also helps all people of different races and women as a whole, if used fairly in our society. According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, affirmative action is an active effort to improve the employment or educational opportunities of members of minority groups and women. There are a number of reasons why I feel affirmative action benefits our society.

This became such an issue for a few reasons. Back then and still today, people are by nature prejudiced against those who are different from themselves. When slavery was legal, it was generally accepted by whites that blacks were not the same kind of human beings. It wasn t until 1865 that slavery was abolished. Women didn t have the right to vote until 1920. In

our country s history, there have been many different cases causing affirmative action to become more of an issue. For example, in 1986, the Plessy vs. Ferguson case ruled to have separate, but equal facilities (Guernsey 28). In 1954, the Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas made it illegal to require racial segregation in any school or government-run facility such as beaches and city buses (Guernsey 28).

According to one of my on-line Internet sources, Affirmative Action Works! , The law of affirmative action has been evolving since the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964 during John F. Kennedy s presidency. The plans are sometimes court imposed and other times they are adopted on a voluntary basis. For the past thirty years, I feel affirmative action definitely has been beneficial to our country. Minorities and women have come a long way to show their importance in our society and their communities. We definitely need the law to continue growing strong.

In the long run, affirmative action can help everyone in the areas of employment and school admissions. The law prohibits discrimination based in race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It gives everyone a fair chance to get a decent job. Statistics show that significant wage gaps on sex and race still persists. According to another one of my internet sources on Affirmative Action, the University of Rhode Island states, Since the 1960s the area of law enforcement witnessed the greatest increase in minority applicants, and in jobs offered to minorities. This should be viewed as an extremely positive thing, because prior to Affirmative Action these jobs were almost completely closed off to minorities and women.

Although many men could care less for equal rights between both men and women, I strongly believe in equality for all. I think it is not fair that on average, men always earn higher salaries than women do, and whites always earn higher than blacks as well. It is also unjust that women hold only 3-5% of senior positions in the private sector (Curry 74). People against affirmative action argue that it is giving special treatment to people who are less capable or fortunate than others are. I disagree. I define it as giving opportunity to minorities in the corporate world by opening doors for them. But, it is up to them to make sure they can keep that door open.

I believe affirmative action also helps diversify the community. Having more minorities in the business world, people can learn to trust and interact with other races. In school, it benefits the students in a few ways such as helping them become more aware of other people s races and cultures. It will help individuals to become less ethnocentric. Different races and cultures will become more acceptable to people. A couple years ago, a college campus in Maryland, like most others, had racial tension between blacks and whites. But supporters of the Banneker Scholarship claim it dramatically reduced hostility and

promoted racial understanding. Stereotypes began to disappear as white students came to see that their black counterparts were not inferior students (Guernsey 86). I think affirmative action also helps create a feeling of unity among our communities in the society we live in.

According to JoAnn Guernsey, Affirmative action supporters point out that, if white males really are falling victim to reverse discrimination, why is there still double digit unemployment in the African American community? It may, indeed, be unrealistic to argue that this country is ready and eager for color-blind and gender-blind social policies and that the government should leave hiring decisions up to the goodwill of the institutions involved. I believe there is a need for affirmative action. Yes, people say that one should not be chosen by color of their skin, but the contents of character for a job. But, there have been a number of minorities not chosen or at least given the opportunity for a job indirectly due to their skin color. Affirmative action exists to prevent that and is making steady strides in helping the problem of racial inequality in America. I believe Affirmative Action is something we should all support, until better and more effective plans are proposed.