Affirmative Action and Racial Tension Essay - 1691 Words

Affirmative Action and Racial Tension Affirmative action. What was its purpose in the first place, and do we really need it now? It began in an era when minorities were greatly under represented in universities and respectable professions. Unless one was racist, most agreed with the need of affirmative action in college admissions and in the workplace. Society needed an active law that enforced equality during a period when civil rights bills were only effective in ink. With so much of America ¹s work force spawned from integrated schools now, some may question whether racism really is the problem anymore, and many college students might answer yes. They see it on college campuses today, and they are not sure why. Subconscious†¦show more content†¦Ehrenreich believes affirmative action should guarantee that the best person regardless of race gets the job or gets into the school until it is all so evened out that our subconscious doesn ¹t put competence and color in the same boat(114). The subliminal prejudices she speaks of may also be stirred by newspaper headlines that feed our emotions and actions. Twenty-nine out of thirty UA students feel the media influences the subconscious(Martin). When blacks read sometimes false statistics about their failing race in periodicals, it builds anger and animosity towards whites(Irvine and Goulden 78). The media implies that they are still not going to overcome the white man at the rate they are going. They subliminally become prejudice of white people, and in effect take violent actions sometimes building emotions that lead to things like the L.A. riots. With our surroundings and media creating images of inequality, affirmative action seems a necessity. It will provide a more positive goal for black students. Affirmative action might not create racial unity even if we do reach the anticipated equal work world we and Ehrenreich dream of though. The evidence is on the college campuses today. Though numbers are not greatly equal, minorities are a big part of university life. In this so-called integrated setting, one might notice that even the equal self-segregate. TheShow MoreRelatedSummary : Rough Draft And Affirmative Action Program1575 Words   |  7 PagesJarron Jones 4-11-15 Moral Problems Rough Draft Affirmative Action In 2003, the Supreme Court issued its ruling on a case challenging the University of Michigan’s undergraduate affirmative action program, ultimately declaring the scheme unconstitutional. The admission scheme was based generally on a 150 point scale system in which the Office of Admission assigned points based on a number of factors, including high school grades, standardized test scores, high school quality, alumni strength, andRead MoreAffirmative Action Should Not Be A Program1540 Words   |  7 Pagesstill very active today. Affirmative action is defined as â€Å"the practice of improving the educational and job opportunities of members of groups that have not been treated fairly in the past because of their race, sex, etc† (Merriam-Webster). Affirmative action creates a blatantly unfair advantage in college and job applications to non-minority races and is ultimately a racist law. Affirmative action is most prominent in the College admission process, where it s racial prioritizing is the most blatantRead More Affirmative Action is Not the Answer Essay843 Words   |  4 PagesAffirmative Action is Not the Answer      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Created in the 1960s, affirmative action programs attempted to undo past racial discrimination by giving preference to blacks and other minorities.   The idea behind these programs was to help minorities gain the representation in the job market that paralleled their percentage of the population (Finley 1).   Unfortunately, affirmative action has mutated into a thirty-year-old policy that places many underqualified minoritiesRead MoreArgumentative Essay - Affirmative Action1148 Words   |  5 Pagesthe ambition that was visible in his opponent. Who do you think was hired for the position? If this story took place before 1964, the answer would be obvious. However, with the adoption of the social policy known as affirmative action, the answer becomes unclear. Affirmative action is a product of the civil rights era, that time from the late 1950s through the 1960s when African Americans fought to live as equal citizens in the country of their birth (Maltz, Leora, 2005). After the United StatesRead More The Perils of Affirmative Action Essay1267 Words   |  6 PagesThe Perils of Affirmative Action    On January 16th of this year, I picked up the Washington Post and read an article by Richard Cohen that weakly criticized the lack of ethnic diversity in President Bushs new cabinet. The article was an interesting analysis of the ethnicity of Bushs cabinet, but it is even more significant as it dealt with an issue that is becoming of greater concern in this country: affirmative action. This issue has affected me in the past. I live in Northern Virginia,Read MoreThe Race Based Affirmative Action1649 Words   |  7 Pagesthat they have not been admitted. Crushed and confused, they go on the university’s website only to discover that the university is looking for people with a more diverse racial background. Standing in the way of their acceptance is a defective policy formally known as race-based affirmative action. Informally called affirmative action, it is a combination of adopted policies that construct an advantage to minority groups, giving them more possibilities to succ eed in jobs, education, and other aspectsRead MoreAffirmative Action : Racial Equality938 Words   |  4 PagesStephany Rodriguez Jeannie Daugherty College English January 21, 2015 Affirmative Action: Racial Equality As a senior in high school, college becomes more of a reality to me- meaning the hunt for the perfect university is approaching...fast. But, the real question is, what do I look for when it comes to my dream college? To my surprise, it’s not the typical campus size issue, but rather it was racial diversity. The bottom line is, I do not want to be placed in a class where I am surrounded byRead MoreAffirmative Action And Its Effects On College Demographics Essay1389 Words   |  6 PagesDue to strong racial tensions, colleges believe admitting individuals in accordance to race is a positive liberal act, however affirmative action is evolving into quite a social strain. Colleges that endorse affirmative action are alleviating racial pressures based on college demographics but creating repercussions that are impacting all races and ages. If we continue burying the issues with affirmative action, we will not only be lessening the meaning of education but creating isolation between Read MoreDoes Affirmative Action Make Moral Sense?1084 Words   |  5 PagesDoes affirmative action make moral sense? A moral being is one capable of conforming to the rules of right conduct, but a big question that follows concerns the idea if there even is such a thing as â€Å"right conduct.† â€Å"Whatever can be proved to be good, must be so by being shown to be a means to something admitted to be good† (Mill 6). In John Stuart Mill’s book, â€Å"Utilitarianism,† he states this notion where an individual assumes good things are good without knowing why they’re good. Defined fromRead More The Ineffectiveness of Affirmative Action in Establishing Diversity1394 Words   |  6 PagesThe Ineffectiveness of Affirmative Action in Establishing Diversity People generally agree that diversity is beneficial to college campuses. In 1978, in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, the Supreme Court decided that race could be used as a factor in deciding college admissions - setting a precedent for the use of affirmative action (Lane A1). Justice Lewis Powell, who belonged to the majority opinion, cited diversity as the primary reason behind his decision. He acknowledged