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It’s a term that refers to many government policies that aim to increase the proportion of women, African-Americans, ND other minorities in educational institutions and jobs historically dominated by white men. The policies usually require institutions and employers to set goals for admitting or hiring minorities. The term “affirmative action” originated in the Ignited States, and first appeared in President John F. Kennedy’s “Executive Order 10925” on March 6, 1961.
This order included a stipulation that government contractors “take affirmative action to make certain that applicants are employed, and employees are treated during employment, without notice of their race, statement of belief, color, or national origin. The intention of this executive order was to establish the government’s commitment to equal opportunity for all competent persons, and to take positive action to strengthen efforts to realize true equal opportunity for all. This executive order was outdated by “Executive order 11246” in 1965. N September 24, 1965 president Lyndon B. Johnson issued Executive Order 1 1 246, prohibiting employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, and national origin by those organizations getting federal contracts and subcontracts. In 1 967, President Johnson amended the order to include sex on the list of attributes. Executive Order 11246 also requires federal contractors to take affirmative action to promote the full realization of equal opportunity for women and minorities.
There are a lot of people who disagree with affirmative action for many reasons. Some say it is racist; it hurts employers and employees, and also hurts minorities. The next four paragraphs show the argument against it. Affirmative action refers to a compilation of policies intended to promote access to education and employment for minorities and women. In an attempt to guarantee these opportunities, government enforced and laundry programs inflict a variety of racial criteria on public offices, universities and businesses.
Fulfillment with these programs can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal and consultant fees as well as important opportunity costs when organizations are forced to make decisions based on race and gender instead of value. The evil of all affirmative action programs is that individuals are categorized by their race. This principle without doubt prolongs racism. This is why a concern of appearing racist toward white males is very common in the United States compared to European counterparts, and why corporations urgently look to present themselves as non-discriminating.
In addition careers may be crushed by unfair accusations of racism. (Daniel Golden, from the Wall Street Journal pig 1) There are areas affected by affirmative action policies. The first is employment opportunities which look for people who possess the least amount of skills. Some examples include food service workers, cashiers and factory workers. Such affirmative action policies make it more difficult for individuals from non-protected groups to be considered for a position. Another kind of employment opportunity seeks the best possible applicant for the job.
This category includes engineering jobs, management and professorships. In order to keep away from the appearance of racism, consultancy groups may unwillingly employ an analyst who they know will not produce as many good ideas, hospitals may grudgingly employ a surgeon who they know will not be as effective in the ERR and universities will admit students who they know will not be as hard-working. (Daniel Golden, from the Wall Street Journal pig 1) Because employment opportunities are given to sees experienced, there will be less opportunities awarded to the most qualified.
Therefore, applicants who don’t belong to a legally protected group compete for fewer positions and therefore face more exclusive standards for selection. As high school graduates know, SAT and/or ACT scores and GAP requirements for admission to the most gung ho universities are apparently higher for students of East Asian or East Indian descent. (Daniel Golden, from the Wall Street Journal pig 2) A high school student with a below average academic record is likely to be a below average college student.