What is Affirmative Action?
Just about everyone has heard of affirmative action these days, but just what is it, really? Is it something only minorities really benefit from? Is it really as controversial as some people seem to think? Affirmative action is a term people use, but what it really means can be very misleading. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines affirmative action as "positive steps taken to increase the representation of women and minorities in areas of employment, education, and business from which they have been historically excluded" ("Affirmative Action"). "Positive steps" can mean many things, but here, they are meant to mean that women and minorities should enjoy the same rights and opportunities that anyone else in this country enjoys. It sounds simple, and it was meant to be simple, but the entire idea of affirmative action has become very controversial. Affirmative action was not a widely used term until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed into legislation. The term was associated with the Act,
One thing is sure, affirmative action can be defined differently by different people. Some see it as a postive step for women and minorities, and others see it as a way to discriminate against white people. It is an emotional and debated subject that will not disappear in the future. Results, Effects, and Uses: Discuss the consequences and uses of the subject. In 2003, for example, affirmative action made headline news when students at the University of Michigan's Law School finally had their day in the U.S. Supreme Court. They had initially filed a suit in 1997 that challenged the University's affirmative action admissions process. The two white students alleged that the university used race as a major factor in admissions to the Law School, and that it actually acted as "reverse discrimination" against more qualified white students. Eventually, the case made its' way to the Supreme Court - the first such affirmative action case heard in 25 years, and the Court supported the Univeristy's admissions pro
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Approximate Word count = 685
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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