Affirmative action was established in order to eliminate discrimination against race, gender, ethnicity, color, religion etc. It works toward eliminating discrimination and protecting the rights of all citizens that are considered minorities, in order to give them equal opportunity. Affirmative action is a very controversial issue because it protects minorities, but many may say that its "reverse discrimination." It is arguable that the same racism that discriminated against minority students, can easily be applied to as the exclusion of white students through affirmativ
e action.It first began with the civil rights movement, when African Americans demanded their rights as citizens of the United States. All American citizens are portrayed as equals with the same opportunities to achieve prosperity and happiness, when in actuality equality has yet to be reached.
It all started on March 6, 1961, with President John F. Kennedy who published Executive Order 10925, which incorporates a provision that government contractors "take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin." President Kennedy's goal with this order was to make sure that the government was keeping its commitment to equal opportunity for all persons and to strengthen the efforts for equal opportunity given to all. Four years later President Lyndon B. Johnson, came out with Executive Order 11246, that prohibited employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, and national origin by those organizations who were receiving federal contracts or subcontracts. Later, President Johnson also added sex to the list.
The University of California also took action in 1995, by applying Executive Order 11246 to their college admissions process and their employment process. They adopted Regents Resolutions SP-1 Section 2, which stated " Effective January 1, 1997, the University of California shall not use race, religion, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin as criteria for admission to the University or to any program of study." , and SP-2 Section 1 , which stated " Effective January 1, 1996, the University of California shall not use race, religion, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin as criteria in its employment and contracting practices.
Supporters of Affirmative Action believe that it is a foundational principle of democratic societies that tries to correct imbalances, because of misrepresentations of the underprivileged sections of society in government institutions, educational institutions and industrial institutions. They say that these misrepresentations have resulted from hidden, involuntary forms of discrimination that seep into society, especially in the ones that have had a history of racial, ethnic, or sex based discrimination. Discrimination can take many forms, such as stereotypes. For example, women are only good for secretarial and house work, and African Americans are good for entertaining and sports. Other forms of discrimination can be concealed, for example clubs or groups that only accept members who are of the same race. Supporters just want to overcome past discrimination and or increase the diversity of students in college. There racial differences when people are asked about their support or opposition of Affirmative Action, and these differences can be seen in the table below.
