Affirmative Action

Module 4 Case Discrimination and Affirmative Action

Affirmative Action programs started in the 1960’s when President John F. Kennedy signed an Executive Order which required federal contractor’s to “take affirmative action” to ensure that applicant’s are employed without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin. Lyndon B. Johnson extended that Executive Order to include women in 1967. Under Affirmative Action law, women and minorities can’t just get a job because they are women or minorities. Women and minorities must have the relevant and valid job or educational qualifications necessary for the job they are applying for.

Affirmative Action programs are designed to promote equality where there has been inequality. For example, African Americans served as slaves in the United States of America for over four hundred years. During that time, it was illegal for African Americans to read, write, or have any form of education that did not directly apply to their vocation. As a consequence, many African Americans were illiterate and uneducated when slavery ended. Many years passed before African Americans were able to received educations that were “equal” to their white counterparts. In addition to educational inequality, African Americans were deemed second class citizens in many areas of the country and were not represented or underrepresented in the job arena due to some employer’s personal prejudices.

In an effort to right the wrongs that occurred over hundreds of years and to bring our country together as a whole, to make this a true “United” States of America Affirmative Action programs were implemented. Affirmative Action is considered right by some and wrong by others. Some of the arguments for Affirmative Action programs is that they give people who have been historically mistreated an opportunity to succeed where the opportunities were not present in the past. For instance, when it comes to...