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In today’s society, Affirmative action is defined as “positive steps that have been taken in order to increase the reputation Of Women and other minorities in the areas Of employment, education and business for which they have been excluded in the past”. When those steps are taken it seems as if a “preferential treatment/ selection” is placed on the people of those categorization’. Each person of every minorities or race deserves the opportunity to a good education no matter what background they may come from.
Although there is great controversy over the issue, Affirmative action is a way for those minorities hat once had to fight for their rights, to gain a leg up on the people that put disadvantaged these individuals in history. Over the years our country has seen many minorities suffer from the disadvantages that were placed upon them simply because of the way that they looked. Every since the days of slavery African American children and adults have fought for the right to a good education or even so, the same education as their white peers received.
Dating back to the era of slavery, most of the education of African American children was taught by the parents of the children or a designated person on the plantation that could read or rite. However, finding a slave that could read or write in those times was extremely hard simple based off of the slave masters not wanting their slaves to learn anything besides what they were being taught by the masters themselves. Over time, the slaves continued to fight for their freedom and education each and every day until The Emancipation Proclamation was passed in 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln.
Although the slaves had finally achieved their freedom and overcame trying battle, their battle for equal education was yet to become. Segregation among majority of the schools in the south became the biggest sue for most African American students of the era. Just escaping slavery, most Of the students faced extreme disadvantage when it came to their education. The children were made to attend schools that were in their community and not of good condition and in most cases with only one teacher.
Because of these conditions, in some communities the males were only allowed to go to school while the females stayed home and helped their mothers with the housework and other tasks. This sparked the controversy over females achieving the same education that males did, even at a disadvantage. Over time there were several cases that went to the Supreme Court concerning segregation in schools. “Brown vs… Board of Education was the main case that overturned the previous case of “Please vs… Ferguson” which stated that schools in America were separate but equal.
After this case was taken to the Supreme Court in 1954, Congress passed a law that desegregated all schools in America which led to uproar in many of those schools. Many of the White students at schools in America were furious at the fact of African Americans and other minorities being able to receive the same education as the individuals of their race. Over time, the same individuals earned to accept the students of minority in the schools and there was a calm that seemed to develop over the issue of education.
This was up until the issue of Affirmative Action came to surface. Affirmative action was created in efforts to allow individuals of minority an advantage in the workplace, education system and in business that they once were denied. The primary purpose of Affirmative action in education is to offer qualified students of minority background the same opportunity in America’s demanding educational system. In education, Affirmative action has been mistaken as educational preferences to unqualified students or hose that are undeserving of preferential treatment.
In reality, for majority of the success of a student in school has been based off of their scores on standardized tests. For those students that performed with proficiency in these areas of testing, were allowed the opportunity to a higher education based off of the Affirmative action law. One factor that has not been considered with the issue of Affirmative action is the fact that every student is different and performs on standardized testing to the best of their ability.
In America, the future and success of most of these students is based off of the way they perform on tests, not engendering the background of the individual or history of the individual. These factors may seem irrelevant to many colleges, but are in fact the main determinants of the success of any individual of minority. Without Affirmative action many of these same individuals will be cast into separate learning environments that do not have the same opportunities as the environments that could have been offered to them under Affirmative action.
The same assumptions for education under Affirmative action can be considered for the education of women over time as well. Affirmative action is not only a positive factor in the education of minorities ND women but is also seen as a way of providing grants and scholarships to those individuals that cannot afford to attend a college or university. Tutorial programs for women as well as many other opportunities are being allowed under affirmative action as a way of assistance.
In many ways, Affirmative action prepares women with the education to be able to perform the same jobs as men can perform, with the same ability. In today’s society with so much emphasis on education being placed as a means of achieving a successful occupation and comfortable life, it is becoming imperative that lifted women and minorities are allowed the same opportunities as the rest of the population in order to succeed. Affirmative action is often times seen as “Racial Diversity, in reality, most of the education of minorities and women had been based off of the simple fact of being “non- white” individuals.
It seems that when Congress passes a law that allows people of minorities the same opportunities that had been denied from them for so long, controversy occurs. Dismantling Affirmative action would result in great diversity in America amongst minorities and an extreme backslide in the progress of education over the years. With America becoming increasingly populated as well as diverse, it is important that children of diverse backgrounds to be allowed the opportunity to develop a proficient education with the help of Affirmative action.
The education of all students in America is critical in efforts to create a positive and thriving workforce for the future. Affirmative action is a way for those minorities that once had to fight for their rights, to gain a leg up on the people that put disadvantages on these individuals in past history. If Affirmative action is dismantled the further development of racial discrimination will increase and more and more dents of minorities will be forced to face the disadvantages that have been placed upon them in history up until today.
One should consider that if Affirmative action in education is ceased; it would be an extreme downfall to the development of education in America. Every individual deserves the right to an education no matter what their race or gender may be; Affirmative action is a way of helping those individuals that were once disadvantaged, succeed. In conclusion affirmative action is a very constructive plan in educating minorities so that they can receive the education that they equally deserve.