Affirmative Action; The Noble Concept Of Equal Opportunity

8 Pages 2038 Words

fter enough workplace settlements affirmative action was created to extend the effort of equality in the workplace and school. On September 24, 1965, Lyndon B. Johnson issued Executive Order #11246 at Howard University that required federal contractors “to take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed. . . without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin,” (Civil Rights). President Johnson also called for other legislation that would end racial barriers to voting, the result was the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which forbid discrimination in voting and registration of (Patterson 142, 159).
Often, affirmative action is considered to be a cure for the disease of racial discrimination but this is not the case. “Affirmative action is a temporary, partial, and flawed remedy for past and continuing discrimination against historically marginalized and disenfranchised groups in American society,” (Hacker 85). A common complaint surrounding affirmative action policies aimed at serving minorities, specifically African Americans, is that they violate the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution by depriving white males of equal protection under the law (Greenberg 100). Many of those against affirmative action policies claim that these programs skew what is already an unambiguous area and confer preferred treatment upon minorities because of the color of their skin. However, actions taken so far can only be considered to be reverse discrimination which, instead of producing equality in the workplace or university setting, creates a tension charged environment. For example, the Northern Natural Gas Company of Omaha, Nebraska, was forced by the government in 1977 to release sixty-five white male workers to make room for minority employees (Nebraska Advisory Committee 40). What did these men do to bring about their termination? Were they the source of any discriminatory policies? The only crime that they were gui...