Affirmative Action – Civil Rights Movement

It was part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it attempts to redress past discrimination through active measures to ensure equal opportunity. The Affirmative Action Policy is as strong as it has ever been before. Since the civil rights movement of the 1960s the idea of diversity has become increasingly more desirable. Diversity in an organization is no longer just praised; it is required. Even organizations that are created for a specific group must open themselves to diversity. Although a large majority of people support it, some feel it has worn out its political welcome. Some people don’t understand that if it weren’t for this, policy racial minorities and many other people would be put at a major disadvantage in the work and major educational places.

Originally this civil rights program was enacted to help African Americans become full citizens of the United States. Today it is helping out all minorities in general get treated equally Affirmative action is defined as the equal opportunities given to women, minorities, and small groups so they will have the same tools, education, and allotment to achieve their goals in life. The reality is that there are a lot of ignorant people out there who are still very prejudice. Unfortunately some of these people hold high powered jobs in companies or colleges and they are responsible for hiring a person for the job or accepting a person to attend college. The Affirmative action policy simply wants to stop this from happening by increasing the representation of women and minorities in areas of employment, education, and business from which they have been excluded.

However, it’s just like other laws and regulations, none of them can please all kinds of people. Many whom do not support affirmative action feel that it is “reverse discrimination”; many argue that the employers and schools favor women and blacks and violate the public equality. For instance the Bush administration opposes the “flawed” affirmative action plan. In general conservative political parties such as the Republicans feel that it is important to take a stand against racial preferences. Democrats seem to approve of the policy, Clinton felt that the job of ending discrimination was far from finished and strongly defended affirmative action. On the other hand it is a very politically sensitive issue for the president who tries to reach out to minorities, who after hearing Bush’s feelings on affirmative action might feel that they really won’t be taken care of and might feel that Bush might turn his back on them once he gets reelected. As a Hispanic woman I feel that I like many benefit a lot from this policy. I realize that if I were competing for a job position against a white male the odds would be against me because there are still people who feel the race and gender of a person is a reflection of your ability as a worker. White males typically earn more than minorities and women while holding the highest percentage of high powered jobs. If affirmative action was discontinued, there would most likely be a short time during which minority hiring rates would drop. Obviously this policy has promoted a more equal America. People who do not agree are usually people who can not relate and therefore feel that the policy isn’t doing anything for them. I understand that some feel that the battle of guaranteed equal rights for citizens has been fought and won and that granting advantages to minorities and women is just not fair any more. I wish that statement were true, it would be great if everyone didn’t look at color or sex while making a judgment on a person’s ability, unfortunately there is still a major lack of equality.

To create race-neutral and gender-neutral assurance against actual discrimination is affirmative action’s true definition .The main purpose of affirmative action is to create diversity in America; affirmative action allows people of different races and backgrounds to interact in the workplace and universities. A reason why the United States is such a great country is because it’s so diverse and everyone seems to have a place and belong here. By keeping affirmative action in America, American citizens will be able to create equality and diversity throughout our country. So far this policy has helped minorities in a huge way and if we, the American citizens, continue to use affirmative action in America, we will be able to remove the chains of oppression from women and minorities