Hawk1981
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"Intended to end and correct the effects of a specific form of discrimination", Affirmative Action in the United States includes government-mandated, government-sanctioned, and voluntary private programs that tend to focus on access to education and employment, granting special consideration to historically excluded groups, specifically racial minorities and women. Affirmative action attempts to redress the disadvantages associated with past and present discrimination, and to ensure public institutions, such as universities, hospitals, and police forces, are more representative of the populations they serve.
The idea of affirmative action has its roots in the Reconstruction Era and the transition of the 4 million newly freed blacks from slavery to a free-labor society with programs such as the Freedmen's Bureau. Although the bureau’s efforts did signal the introduction of the federal government into issues of social welfare and labor relations, lack of funding, coupled with the politics of race and Reconstruction, meant that the bureau was not able to carry out all of its initiatives, and it failed to provide long-term protection for blacks or ensure any real measure of racial equality.
The term "affirmative action" appears in the National Labor Relations Act, also known as the Wagner Act of 1935, where it refers to violations of unfair labor practices and directs employers found in violation of employment policies to take "affirmative action" on behalf of the victim(s) of those violations, such as reinstatement or back pay.
The true forerunner of affirmative action was in the hiring practices of the "New Deal's" Public Works Administration that oversaw not only the institution of a quota system, where contractors were required to employ a fixed percentage of black workers, but also required equal pay for women.
In 1961, President John Kennedy issued Executive Order 10925 that was the first regulation to utilize the term "affirmative action" in its contemporary sense. The order required 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." The original term was to be "positive action" but was replaced with "affirmative action" due to its alliterative quality.
President Lyndon Johnson worked to expand the scope of Kennedy's executive order and succeeded in passing the Civil Right's Act of 1964. The law aimed at not only integrating public facilities, but also private businesses that sold to the public, such as motels, restaurants, theaters, and gas stations, and included public schools, hospitals, libraries, and parks. The Act's Title VII was the most significant and the most controversial, directing the end of discrimination in all firms with 25 or more employees. Many conservatives accused the Act of advocating a de facto quota system, and claimed unconstitutionality with its attempts to regulate the workplace. Johnson followed up the Civil Right Act by issuing Executive Order 11246 which prevented discrimination based on race, color, religion, and national origin by organizations which received federal contracts and subcontracts. In 1967, the order was amended to include sex as well.
Affirmative action details have been challenged in the courts. Some of the notable cases include: Griggs v. Duke Power Company (1971), where the US Supreme Court ruled that under title VII of the Civil Rights Act that if testing requirements were impeding minorities, the business had to demonstrate that the tests were necessary for the job. In the 1978 case, Regents of the University of California v. Bakke the Supreme Court held that the University of California, Davis medical school admissions program violated the equal protection clause with the institution of quotas for underrepresented minorities. However, Justice Lewis Powell, Jr's decision in the majority upheld diversity in higher education as a "compelling interest" and held that race could be one of the factors in university admissions.
President Kennedy Signing Executive Order 10925
In Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), the Supreme Court held that a race-conscious admissions process that may favor "underrepresented minority groups", but that also took into account many other factors evaluated on an individual basis for every applicant, did not amount to a quota system. The first Fisher v. University of Texas (2013) clarified Grutter v. Bollinger by stating that a university may not consider race as a factor in admissions unless "available, workable race-neutral alternatives do not suffice," and that such a decision warrants strict scrutiny. The Supreme Court, in the return of Fisher v. University of Texas(2016), upheld the University's limited use of race in admissions decisions because the University showed it had a clear goal of limited scope without other workable race-neutral means to achieve it.
Since its implementation in the 1960s, affirmative action in employment and education has been continuously scrutinized by critics who point out several issues: While primarily designed to end unfair treatment and discrimination of anyone based on color, it may do the opposite in 'reverse discrimination' situations hindering promotion or reward based on merit in favor of considerations strictly based on race and/or gender. There is the possibility of promotion or advancement of candidates that are not yet ready or fully qualified for the placement. It can lower accountability standards and demean genuine achievement.
President Kennedy stated in Executive Order 10925 that "it is the plain and positive obligation of the United States Government to promote and ensure equal opportunity for all qualified persons, without regard to race, creed, color, or national origin, employed or seeking employment with the Federal Government and on government contracts"; that "it is the policy of the executive branch of the Government to encourage by positive measures equal opportunity for all qualified persons within the Government"; and that "it is in the general interest and welfare of the United States to promote its economy, security, and national defense through the most efficient and effective utilization of all available manpower."
The idea of affirmative action has its roots in the Reconstruction Era and the transition of the 4 million newly freed blacks from slavery to a free-labor society with programs such as the Freedmen's Bureau. Although the bureau’s efforts did signal the introduction of the federal government into issues of social welfare and labor relations, lack of funding, coupled with the politics of race and Reconstruction, meant that the bureau was not able to carry out all of its initiatives, and it failed to provide long-term protection for blacks or ensure any real measure of racial equality.
The term "affirmative action" appears in the National Labor Relations Act, also known as the Wagner Act of 1935, where it refers to violations of unfair labor practices and directs employers found in violation of employment policies to take "affirmative action" on behalf of the victim(s) of those violations, such as reinstatement or back pay.
The true forerunner of affirmative action was in the hiring practices of the "New Deal's" Public Works Administration that oversaw not only the institution of a quota system, where contractors were required to employ a fixed percentage of black workers, but also required equal pay for women.
In 1961, President John Kennedy issued Executive Order 10925 that was the first regulation to utilize the term "affirmative action" in its contemporary sense. The order required 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." The original term was to be "positive action" but was replaced with "affirmative action" due to its alliterative quality.
President Lyndon Johnson worked to expand the scope of Kennedy's executive order and succeeded in passing the Civil Right's Act of 1964. The law aimed at not only integrating public facilities, but also private businesses that sold to the public, such as motels, restaurants, theaters, and gas stations, and included public schools, hospitals, libraries, and parks. The Act's Title VII was the most significant and the most controversial, directing the end of discrimination in all firms with 25 or more employees. Many conservatives accused the Act of advocating a de facto quota system, and claimed unconstitutionality with its attempts to regulate the workplace. Johnson followed up the Civil Right Act by issuing Executive Order 11246 which prevented discrimination based on race, color, religion, and national origin by organizations which received federal contracts and subcontracts. In 1967, the order was amended to include sex as well.
Affirmative action details have been challenged in the courts. Some of the notable cases include: Griggs v. Duke Power Company (1971), where the US Supreme Court ruled that under title VII of the Civil Rights Act that if testing requirements were impeding minorities, the business had to demonstrate that the tests were necessary for the job. In the 1978 case, Regents of the University of California v. Bakke the Supreme Court held that the University of California, Davis medical school admissions program violated the equal protection clause with the institution of quotas for underrepresented minorities. However, Justice Lewis Powell, Jr's decision in the majority upheld diversity in higher education as a "compelling interest" and held that race could be one of the factors in university admissions.
President Kennedy Signing Executive Order 10925
In Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), the Supreme Court held that a race-conscious admissions process that may favor "underrepresented minority groups", but that also took into account many other factors evaluated on an individual basis for every applicant, did not amount to a quota system. The first Fisher v. University of Texas (2013) clarified Grutter v. Bollinger by stating that a university may not consider race as a factor in admissions unless "available, workable race-neutral alternatives do not suffice," and that such a decision warrants strict scrutiny. The Supreme Court, in the return of Fisher v. University of Texas(2016), upheld the University's limited use of race in admissions decisions because the University showed it had a clear goal of limited scope without other workable race-neutral means to achieve it.
Since its implementation in the 1960s, affirmative action in employment and education has been continuously scrutinized by critics who point out several issues: While primarily designed to end unfair treatment and discrimination of anyone based on color, it may do the opposite in 'reverse discrimination' situations hindering promotion or reward based on merit in favor of considerations strictly based on race and/or gender. There is the possibility of promotion or advancement of candidates that are not yet ready or fully qualified for the placement. It can lower accountability standards and demean genuine achievement.
President Kennedy stated in Executive Order 10925 that "it is the plain and positive obligation of the United States Government to promote and ensure equal opportunity for all qualified persons, without regard to race, creed, color, or national origin, employed or seeking employment with the Federal Government and on government contracts"; that "it is the policy of the executive branch of the Government to encourage by positive measures equal opportunity for all qualified persons within the Government"; and that "it is in the general interest and welfare of the United States to promote its economy, security, and national defense through the most efficient and effective utilization of all available manpower."
