Affirmative Action

Affirmative Action

Krystal Davis

COM/150

February 5, 2012

Mark Matthews

Affirmative Action

John Kasich, the current Republican Governor of Ohio said it best when he stated “affirmative action has a negative effect on our society when it means counting us like so many beans and dividing us into separate piles” (OntheIssues, n.d.). In the same way, society separated Blacks from Whites years ago. Consequently, this disconnection brought about the necessity for affirmative action laws, resulting in the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In fact, the undefined term affirmation action can be traced back to the 1960’s. After the termination of slavery in 1865 there was still a form of discrimination in place to allow Whites to keep themselves separate from Blacks. For example, women and minority men were segregated against in voting polls. Additionally, minorities were segregated within their place of employment, the churches they wished to attend, and lastly their choice of educational facility. Furthermore, the demand for affirmative action laws is currently under much controversial debate. Affirmative action means taking positive steps to improve the representation of any minority. Specifically, the point of affirmative action is to encourage change in institutions so that they will meet the terms of the nondiscrimination order of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Affirmative Action has historically caused controversy, as well as better representation of those that were previously excluded from areas of employment, education and business.

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy created an Executive Order that established the Equal Employment Opportunity Committee (EEOC). A committee was formed, whose sole purpose was to help provide Equal Employment Opportunity for everyone. Incidentally, the order introduced the phrase Affirmative Action (Fullinwider, 2009). The president’s order authorized the committee the right to impose...