Disadvantages Of Affirmative Action

Multiple debates have sparked amongst the public throughout the years as whether or not to give minority groups in the United States more opportunities and advantages in modern society. This majorly discussed topic, otherwise known as affirmative action, is a method created for the sole intention of eliminating racial discrimination for minority groups in fields such as higher education. It addresses the major problem of inequality by claiming to provide minority groups a higher advantage than majority groups. In contrast, however, it has brought even more problems upon people of other ethnic backgrounds by increasing the competition and standards required of them to meet while the ones who benefit face no major difficulties. Over time, affirmative

According to the Constitution and federal law, citizens should have basic rights such as voting, but the African Americans of this time were denied these privileges. John F. Kennedy, the United States president during this time period, took a stance and signed the Executive Order 10925 that ordered government contractors to take "affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin" (“Affirmative Action Overview”). Shortly afterwards, “President Lyndon Johnson signed Executive Order 11246 ordering government contractors to use affirmative action policies in their hiring process to increase the number of minority employees and promote the idea of equal opportunity (“Affirmative Action”)”. Affirmative action has thus since been implemented and present in

This specific topic is very controversial in the United States because people have mixed feelings about giving minority groups more opportunities and advantages. People of color have never been afforded truly equal opportunity because they’ve always been historically judged on their ability, character, and value based on their skin color. Increased chances of employment and higher education can give disadvantaged minority groups a bigger boost and essentially a fair chance in society. Minorities can be drawn to levels of higher education they may never consider otherwise. More opportunities in modern day society can compensate them for centuries of slavery or oppression that occurred in the past. According to a 2008 online publication by the American Civil Liberties Union, “These programs recognize and strive to correct the barriers that continue to block the paths of many individual Americans, including women, Native Americans, Arab Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and African Americans. Affirmative action helps ensure equal access to opportunities and...to promote diversity in academic and professional settings, and to give each and every one of us a fair chance to compete” (“Striving for Equal”). People who support Affirmative Action believe that it can balance out racial discrimination when it is actually increasing it more than it was before the policy was put into