The affirmative action debate

Affirmative action is one of the most controversial political issues facing America. Very often, affirmative action assists disadvantaged groups by improving placement in higher education and employment, and the term is most often conceived as a program to improve the reputation of African Americans.

People take different positions on the issue, supporting their views with different motivations, such as the need for equality and natural competition. Although it was created to help advance the position of disadvantaged peoples, some seen as an affirmative action unfair and even harmful, force in our society.

While the Johnson administration institutionalized affirmative action, the struggle for equality that began a century earlier with the passage of important legislation. In 1860 and 1870, 13, amendments 14 and 15 respectively abolished slavery, guaranteed African Americans citizenship and voting rights. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 helped to ensure property rights for African Americans. However, in 1896, Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court segregation in justified cases, stating that African-Americans could be "separate but equal", stimulating the emergence of prejudice and racism of Jim Crow laws.

Started by Lyndon Johnson's Executive Order 11246, affirmative action was designed to provide equal benefits to all peoples, and to address past injustices government, providing support for groups that have been historically discriminated against. Many people argue that it is the primary responsibility of our government to correct inequalities and creating a more just society.

Many believe that affirmative action is more of a patch than a panacea. Opponents of affirmative action argue that affirmative action quotas for the same purpose the concept of slavery reparations: it punishes the majority for the sins of previous generations. Moreover, while affirmative action might seem to make society more egalitarian, his critics argue that the policies are anti-meritocratic and are, in fact, a manifestation of "reverse racism".

The affirmative action debate lends itself to some important questions such as: The Government have a responsibility to correct social inequalities? If affirmative action to achieve its objective of creating a more just society, or is it a manifestation of "reverse racism"?