Criticism of Affirmative Action
Over the years, specific criticisms of Affirmative Action have developed as a result of the endless debate and legal wrangling over the issue, as well as the division in American society about the topic. The first criticism of Affirmative Action to consider is the assertion that the burden of compensating victims of discrimination usually becomes the responsibility of those who are not individually responsible for the discrimination itself. For example, in the case of employment, promotion and educational opportunities, white males are usually the ones who pay the consequences of discrimination violations even if they did not cause it. While the argument is made that this is just because the white males receive the most benefit from discrimination against others, the same argument can be made that the price that white males pay for these extra opportunities exceed what they ever receive in return, making them the victims of discrimination in an interesting twist of events. This being said, a valid argument that the innocent are punished in these compensation situations can be fairly made.
The Quality Argument is also a classic in criticizing Affirmative Action. This argument puts forth the theory that since less than qualified people are often selected for jobs because of affirmative action, the quality of their work is less than that of the most qualified candidates and as a result, the general quality of goods and services resulting from this is damaging to society as a whole. This argument would be valid if the world was made up of absolutes, but it is not, and therefore, the argument cannot wholly be true. For example, the Quality Argument makes the assumption that in every case of Affirmative Action, the candidate selected for the job is not qualified...
In addition to changes in admission policies at universities, new workshops in education are beginning to address this issue head on, with teaching participants being taught that American history and education are both "written from the perspective of whites and that laws and policies benefit whites while putting minorities at an immediate disadvantage." (Fernandez, 1) This has helped to redirect the perspective on Affirmative Action within the profession, where
Affirmative Action is an organization of policies and designed procedures aimed at assisting in the elimination of discrimination against women and other minorities in the human society, together with redressing the possibilities of past discrimination. As required by the Affirmative Action Plan's requirements, Affirmative Action was signed by President Johnson in 1965. It supported and revised by different presidents in the world. The intention of Affirmative Action is to have
Affirmative action is an initiative based on a set of policies that are intended to eradicate both present and past prejudice against women and minority in areas of employment and businesses where they were historically marginalized. Theses discriminations can also be based on ones race, religion, color or nation of origin (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2009). Brief History of affirmative action Civil rights movements originally endorsed programs that would enable African-Americans acquire
Actually, state agencies and institutions of higher learning have continued to rely upon the Supreme Court decisions and federal legislation to enforce the policies of affirmative action since 1978. While there are no definitive answers on whether affirmative action policies and programs are necessary, scholars and civic leaders have been engaged in hot debates to determine the implications of measures to dismantle affirmative action policies and programs. There are various
Many federal courts have held that community law enforcement agencies may adhere to the stipulations of the Equal Protection Clause if an organizational need validates the employer's intentional affirmative action labors. In the arena of higher education, the Supreme Court has held in Grutter v. Bollinger that having an assorted student body can often account for the consideration of race as an issue in precise admissions results at colleges
This is a particular problem at the nation's colleges and universities. This has become so much of an issue that law suits and verdicts have been handed down in some states. One of the most famous cases to date involved the University of Michigan's undergraduate and law school policies. These cases are Gratz v. Bollinger and Grutter v. Bollinger. In 1997, Jennifer Gratz, a white woman, sued the University of
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