Term Papers on Affirmative Action

Term Paper Title	Affirmative Action
# of Words	1651
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	6.6

Affirmative Action

     Affirmative action is defined as "practises in hirinf, promotions, and college

admissions that favor a group previously hurt by discrimination against it" (Lexicon, pg.

14).  The phrase "affirmative action" was first used in a racial discrimination context in

Executive Order No. 10,925 issued by President John F. Kennedy in 1961. This executive

order indicated that federal contractors should take affirmative action to ensure that job

applicants and employees are treated "without regard to their race, creed, color, or national

origin."  In this essay many aspects of affirmative action will be discussed including: The

pros and cons of affirmative action, alternatives to affirmative action and some problems in

implementing and managing a newly formed affirmative action workplace.


     There are positive and negative aspects to everything. This section will discuss the

negative aspects of affirmative action.  Affirmative action promotes the hiring of less skilled

workers. It sometimes forces employers to choose the best of the minority workers they

can find, regardless of whether they have the required job skills. For example, Duke

University  adopted a resolution requiring each department to hire at least one new black

for a faculty position by 1993. However, only six blacks received Ph.D.s in mathematics in

1987 in all of the U.S., casting doubts as to whether it would be possible for each

department to find a wellqualified black, much less hire one.

     Colleges and universities frequently also have quotas for how many blacks it is

necessary to admit to "round out" their freshman classes. An example is the admission

practices at Berkeley. Only 40 per cent of the entering class in 1988 were selected solely on

the basis of academic merit.

     While whites or Asian-Americans need at least a 3.7 grade point average in high

school to be considered for admission, most minority candidates who meet a much lower

standard are automatically admitted. "Berkeley continues this practice of  preferential

admissions for minorities even though the graduation rate of minorities is very low. Sixty-

six per cent of whites or AsianAmericans graduate while only 27 per cent of blacks \

graduate.

     Another problem caused by affirmative action is that it places a stain on groups

which receive preferential treatment, especially on individuals who earn their positions

because of their ability. Consider an employer who hires a member of a minority group for

a high position on the basis of merit, not for affirmative action reasons. Other employees,

however, are likely to assume that it was an affirmative action hiring, as are many other

minority hirings.

     There are also positive sides to affirmative action. There are thousands of examples

of situations where people of color, white women, and working class women and men of

all races who were previously excluded from jobs or educational opportunities, or were

denied opportunities once admitted, have gained access through affirmative action. When

these policies received executive branch and judicial support, vast numbers of people of

color, white women and men have gained access they would not otherwise have had.

These gains have led to very real changes. "Affirmative action programs have not

eliminated racism, nor have they always been implemented without problems. However,

there would be no struggle to roll back the gains achieved if affirmative action policies were

ineffective."(Kivel)

     Affirmative action has had its greatest amount of success in city, state, and

government jobs. 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 woman. The influx has been gre...

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