Affirmative Action

Affirmative Action is the name given to programmes, schemes and actions that seek to give members of minority groups such as African Americans or Hispanics, a head start in key areas of public life. This could mean in higher education and schooling, or even politics.

Affirmative Action first entered the political lexicon under President Kennedy who created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1961. The task was to ensure that employment practices would be free from any form of racial bias. This work was continued under Lyndon Johnson.

As with almost any programme in the United States, affirmative action has its critics, who would normally use the phrase reverse discrimination when referring to affirmative action. There have been a number of Supreme Court cases which feature affirmative action such as Regents of the University of California v Bakke 1978, which dealt with the case of a white medical student not being admitted, despite having higher grade than some minority candidates who were admitted. Further cases include Gratz v Bollinger 2003 and Fisher v University of Texas 2013.

Arguments against Affirmative Action

• Advantage for one group will disadvantage another
• It focusses on groups as a whole, rather than the individual
• Success could be undermined if it is believed that individuals only succeeded as a result of affirmative action
• The extra help that affirmative action can provide could allow people who are not qualified enough to be given jobs.
• Affirmative action can encourage prejudice

Arguments for Affirmative Action

• Those who are previously disadvantaged are now becoming more advantaged
• Promotes racial tolerance and multi culturalism
• Delivers equality of opportunity in an effective manner
• Creates opportunities for those who may never had had them in the first place