Affirmative Action Essay -- Rights Equality Inequality Papers

Affirmative Action Since its implementation in the United States in 1965, affirmative action has been a heated topic of debate. Designed to address the issue of inequality in American society, affirmative action is a number of programs and policies designed to give women and racial minorities more opportunities in education and the job market. As a result, affirmative action has received opposition, mainly from blue collar white males who feel that it compromises their best interests. In this paper, we will attempt to evaluate the impact of affirmative action on all Americans and its effectiveness in addressing the issue of inequality. History: Affirmative action was first mentioned in executive order 10925 on March 6, 1961. On July 2, 1964 the Civil Rights act was signed by President Johnson to guarantee equal rights to all Americans. President Johnson introduced affirmative action on June 4, 1965. He gave a speech defining the concept of affirmative action as a way of countering the discrimination that had continued despite the passing of civil rights laws and constitutional guarantees. On September 24, 1965 executive order 11246 enforced affirmative action for the first time (Brunner). Affirmative action was met with both support and opposition. Conservatives saw it as opening doors of opportunity for minorities while shutting them for whites, calling it reverse racism. Because many conservative Americans prided themselves on hard work and making a fortune out of nothing, they resented what they thought of as blacks getting a free ride. They argued that Jews and Asians also underwent harsh forms of racism and discrimination but are largely successful now without the use of Government aid (Brunner). Supporter... ...center.org/DB/factsheet/historical-trendsII.htm {scholarly primary, print via internet; authoritative} â€Å"Housing and Household Economic Statistics.† U.S. Census Bureau. www.census.gov/hhes/income {scholarly primary, internet only; authoritative} â€Å"Race: Overview.† Public Agenda. 2004. http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/overview.cfm?issue_type=race {scholarly secondary, internet only; authoritative} â€Å"Race: Quick Takes.† Public Agenda. 2004. http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/angles.cfm?issue_type=race {scholarly secondary, internet only; authoritative} Ward, Dr. David. â€Å"Affirmative Action.† 2001. http://enlightenment.supersaturated.com/essays/text/david ward {scholarly primary, print via internet; authoritative} R. Yetman, Norman. â€Å"Race and Ethnicity†. Sociology McGraw-Hill. 1994 316-359 {scholarly primary, print, authoritative)