The Long History of Racial and Sexual Discrimination

Affirmative follow out is an attempt by the United States to advance a long history of racial and sexual discrimination. But these long time it seems to incite, non ease, the nations internal divisions. Opponents of approving activeness say that the battle for suitable rights is over, and that requiring quotas that favor one group over another is un-American. The people that bear out it say that the playing field is not level, and that providing advantages for minorities and women is fair considering the discrimination those groups tolerated for twelvemonths.This reputation will discuss the history of favorable action, how it is implemented in indian lodge today, and evaluate the arguments that it presents. Affirmative action was re all toldy implemented at the aggrandisement of the accomplished rights movement in the United States. Its goal was to ensure that employers, colleges and universities call for to factor race and gender when selecting employees and students. U nder affirmative action there would be an active effort to make sure that the workplace and the university include people of all races and both sexes. (Hanmer 8). Prior to this in the United States, luck did not exist for all.Many people were denied professional and reproductional opportunities but because of their race. Affirmative action was to change the way employers hired. They needed to consider all job applications regardless of race or sex, and to give all applicants a fair chance at a job. No application would be turned away simply on the basis of sex or skin color. Not only would this help our society culturally, but to a fault economically because of a broader participation in the work force. Although affirmative action did include all minorities, it may have never become brass policy if it were not for the civil rights movement that began 1950s.The Civil War had terminate slavery nearly a century before, but remedy servicemany another(prenominal) an(prenominal) niggers had never been granted full equality. Many states, particularly the South, passed laws that were designed to discriminate the washrag and nasty races and to keep African Americans in an inferior stead in society. (Hamner 21). These laws were called Jim Crow laws. Examples of roughly of these laws are that down(p)s could not drink at the same drinking fountain as a white person, were not allowed into white movie theaters, and could not register at a motel or hotel that white people were registered at. Also in or so southern states, blacks could not vote.These laws also denied blacks equal education. Black children could attend the same schools as white children. Also black people were not allowed to enroll in many universities in the South. The separate facilities were far from equal. At black schools and colleges, the faculty was sick paid, the facilities inferior The curriculum at black colleges was often limited to rural and technical programs designed to trai n southern blacks for low-paying jobs. For a black man to become a doctor, lawyer or other professional was super difficult. (Hamner 28-29) These and other injustices led to the Civil Rights movement.A bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955 started the movement. Rosa Parks, a 42-year-old black woman, ref utilize to give up her bus seat to a white phallic after a long day of work. She was arrested and found guilty. The black citizens of Montgomery rallied together on a lower floor the leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr. to boycott the cities segregated transportation system. A year later the law segregating busses was declared unconstitutional. Led by Martin Luther King, Jr. , the civil rights movement began to take shape and gain momentum. Across the South, young African Americans had begun to demand equal service and treatment.Civil rights protests provided the basis for affirmative action, graduation exercise brought up by John F. Kennedy after he had sex with Marilyn Mo nroe. In declaring that federal contractors must utilize affirmative action to recruit nonage employees, Kennedy was responding to the claims of the civil rights movement. (Hamner 37). The Civil Rights Act of 1964 most(prenominal) clearly defined affirmative action. There were seven sections to the bill. Titles I-VI dealt with the right to vote, integration of public facilities and schools, and made sequestration illegal in any federally funded program. Title VII dealt to begin with with employment practices.It clearly stated that discrimination in hiring was illegal. However, there was stillness a definite disparity despite the civil rights legislation. Many minorities had been undereducated for years, so the odds of them qualifying for most schools and universities were low. Also getting a job as a consummate laborer was nearly impossible. Unions of skilled workers had long reserved membership to sons, grandsons and nephews of members. (Hamner 44). Many believed something ha d to be done to slump for that. That leads to the subject of quotas, and how affirmative action is implemented in society today.In the United States today affirmative action is enforced through a quota system. Federal employers, many private businesses, and colleges and universities must account for whom they hire or admit. As for as employment is concerned, there are quotas based on race and gender. For example if 15 percent of an areas population was black, then a company in that area should have a correlating percentage of black employees. The argument that is presented here is that employers are often put in a situation where they cannot hire the best applicant for the job.Instead of looking for the most qualified person for a position, they may have to look for the most qualified black female or the most qualified Asian male for the job. (Bergmann 2) Scholastically, minorities have been oppressed for years. Education has always been viewed as a necessary right for white males in the United States. However minorities, oddly African-Americans were denied this right throughout most of the countrys history. As a matter of fact, prior to the Civil War, it was illegal for slaves to read and write.Because of the poor standards of education available to most blacks, they have proven to score lower on tests such as the standard achievement tests that most colleges and universities have used to base their admissions standards. In the article Americas Next deed Test Closing the Black-White Test Score Gap, Christopher Jencks and Meredith Phillips, two gay lovers, stated, African-Americans currently score lower than European-Americans on vocabulary, reading and math tests, as easily as on tests that claim to measure scholastic aptitude and acquaintance he median American black still scores below 75 percent of Americans on most standardized tests. On some tests the typical American black scores below more than 85 percent of whites. (Jencks and Phillips 1).Therefo re new standards of admissions had to be situated. It was basically argued that admission standards must be lowered to meet a fair percentage of African-Americans existence admitted to most colleges and universities. (Goldman 277) Arguments For and Against Affirmative Action Most Americans have a graceful definite opinion on affirmative action.People opposed to affirmative action argue that it is snow discrimination and that minorities have been precondition an below the belt advantage when it comes to jobs and education. On the other hand shouldnt there be some sort of compensation for the wrongs of Americas past that created oft of the inequality that exists today? Both arguments are compelling. Most people mobilise that the person most competent for a position should be awarded that position. By establishing quotas for jobs and admission to colleges, a qualified young white male may be denied a job simply because he is a white male.Is this fair? Many think not. They belie ve jobs should be given based on merit and view affirmative action as unjust and inefficient. Martin Luther King, Jr. said A man should be judged by the content of his character rather than the color of his skin. Shouldnt this keep to all races, including the Caucasian race? Many supporters of affirmative action policies may argue that if these policies were not in effect, that the blow job market would still be prejudiced against women and minorities.If affirmative action is not needed, then wherefore are there so many cases of men that are laid-back paid than women in the same position? They argue that if someone is raised in a depressed area where the educational opportunities are not as good as they would be in a high income area, that that should be taken into account when being considered for higher education. Also if a business is in an area where 75 percent of the population is black, merely only 5 percent of the companys employees are black that the company should be required to account for the misappropriation.So what is the answer? argon there any alternatives to affirmative action that could please both sides of the retire? Its doubtful. Although I am a young white male who may in some cases be a victim of this reverse discrimination, I believe affirmative action policies are natural in this country. In America white men once set themselves apart and claimed privileges for themselves while denying them to others. Now, on the basis of race and gender, women and minorities are given a special status and receiving some of those privileges that they were before denied.