Do We Still Need Affirmative Action?

• “Moving Beyond ...”

  

  “Equal Opportunity for All”

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Equal Opportunity for All

Jennifer Gratz

American Civil Rights Institute

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In 1996 a California court declared that “affirmative action” is an “amorphous, value-laden term” (see Lungren v. Superior Court). Therefore, before exploring whether it is time to end affirmative action, one must recognize that the phrase affirmative action means different things to different people. In 1961 President John F. Kennedy first introduced the nation to the concept of affirmative action. Executive Order 10925 stated that affirmative action must be taken to “ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin." Kennedy’s message was simple – treat all people equally, without regard to race.  

The type of affirmative action that President Kennedy describes should not be eliminated. Everyone, regardless of race or gender, should be guaranteed an equal opportunity to compete for good paying jobs, contracts, and college admissions. However, in time, various programs have carelessly introduced policies that actually discriminate by granting racial preferences and have done so in the name of “affirmative action.”

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson started the nation down this path, when he stated: “You do not take a man who for years has been hobbled by chains, liberate him, bring him to the starting line of a race, saying, 'you are free to compete with all the others,' and still justly believe you have been completely fair.” Today, many “affirmative action” programs do exactly what they originally sought to outlaw – namely granting a preference to one race or gender, while discriminating against another.

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"Moving Beyond Race and Gender" Jennifer Gratz

• Equal Opportunity for All
  6
• The Constitutionality of Affirmative Action
  5
• Our National Tragedy
  3

"Affirmative Action is Divisive" Center for Equal Opportunity

• Only Kind of “Affirmative Action” at Issue is Racial Discrimination
  3
• The Only Issue is Whether the Benefits Outweigh the Costs
  2
• The Two Claimed Benefits of Affirmative Discrimination Not Persuasive
  2
• There Are Many Undeniable Costs to the Use of Racial Preferences
  2
• Envision the Society We Want/Ask if Preferences Will Help Us Get There
  2

"We Need Affirmative Action" AAAA

• Affirmative Action is Necessary
  0
• Diversity is a Compelling State Interest
  0
• Discrimination Continues to Exist
  1
• To End Racism We Must Take Account of Race
  0
• Eliminating Race Does Not Benefit Whites
  0
• Opponents Mis-Characterize Affirmative Action
  1
• Dr. Martin Luther King Would Have Supported Affirmative Action
  0
• The Changing Demographics Call for Affirmative Action
  0

"We Have To Think for Ourselves" Brandon Brice

• The Equal Opportunity Act Was Not About “Quotas”
  2
• The Bigger Picture of What’s Wrong With Black America
  2
• Lack of Preparation
  2

"Definitely" BAMN

• As Long as Racism and Sexism Exist, Affirmative Action is Still Needed
  2
• GPA and Standardized Test Scores are NOT Neutral Measures of Merit
  3
• Racism is the Cause of the "Badge of Inferiority"
  1
• Banning Affirmative Action Resegregates Higher Education
  3
• How to Keep Our Nation on the Path to Equality
  3

Most Objections

Ban Affirmative Action?

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• No

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