The most noteworthy criticism of affirmative action is that of the white male population who insists that such programs are forms of "reverse discrimination". In contrast to their view, the United States Commission on Civil Rights argued until 1983 that only if society were operating fairly would measures that take race, sex, and national origin into account be "preferential treatment." After the commission on civil rights was reorganized in late 1983, however, it took the opposite position. By January of 1984, it approved a statement that "racial preferences merely constitute another form of unjustified discrimination". In recent years, however, affirmative action ha

In 1973, AT & T settled a landmark government discrimination suit by agreeing to hire and promote more minorities. The court order expired in 1979 but with CEO Allen pushing hard, the company continues its aggressive recruitment of blacks. Today, minorities make up nearly twenty-one percent of AT & T's work force. More than seventeen percent of the company managers are minorities, up from only twelve percent ten years ago in 1984. (White, 1992.)

The transformation of affirmative action over the years is generally considered a negative and socially unfair one. Although the original intention of such programs with regard to minority management was one of an undeniably just nature, my research has clearly indicated that over the years, various legal trends have drastically altered the socio-political implications of affirmative action often creating unfair situations for white males who are not part of the "guaranteed crowd".

Since the 1970's, most major companies and many smaller ones have adopted formal written policies to recruit minorities. The result has helpfully produced major gains for black job-seekers. In fact, the percentage of blacks in the work force has risen by fifty percent in the past twenty-five years; a solid advance taking into account a significantly larger black population. The largest of such gains were in the South by black women. Many jobs came in government itself, where as many as 850,000 blacks found jobs in the social welfare bureaucracy from 1960 to 1976. Huge numbers of blacks have moved into the middle class. (Graglier 28)

It is of course not that way at every company. Some corporations' commitment to equal opportunity goes far beyond lip service and a government mandate; not for altruistic reasons, but for pragmatic ones. Minorities, who now make up twenty-eight percent of the U.S. population, have become a major force in the domestic economy, and businesses want to reach these growing markets.

However, overall progress seems to be slowing. After dramatic income gains in the 1960's and 70's, blacks have been losing economic ground for the past decade. The higher-paying manufacturing jobs that were once a doorway to economic security for working-class blacks are harder to come by in an increasingly service-based economy.

In 1995, there is undoubtedly no question that the social and the political costs of affirmative action are indeed high. The dilemma created by its' existence is one which can only be handled by weighing both the negatives and the positives and consequently favoring the greater. Despite the recent West Coast controversy, it is clear that minority management could not function as successfully as it does without affirmative action.

Whites are not the only ones questioning race-based preferences in the nineties. Many black intellectuals, such as Shelby Steele, professor at San Jose State University, says that affirmative action works against our race. By singling out blacks and other minorities for "special treatment", we are not only stigmatized as unworthy, but we learn to accept a false sense of victimization as well. Such feelings, he says, can stifle attempts to throw off the bonds of dependency and poverty that continue to plague many blacks.

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Approximate Word count = 2627
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)