Affirmative Action Debate

Race has been a key issue in the majority of presidential campaigns since 1968 (Berman, 1994, p. 153). A quarter of a century ago, racial politics focused on busing. In 1988, the primary issue was crime. Civil rights, anti-discrimination, and welfare reform have all, at one time or another, been the focus of racial debate. Affirmative action, initiated during the administration of President John Kennedy, has been embroiled in controversy since its inception. During the 1980 presidential campaign, Republicans successfully employed affirmative action to mobilize whites: "The intense hostility that many white voters felt for affirmative action programs, coupled with their desire to reduce spending on welfare and public housing, [gave] conservative Republicans an opportunity to employ wedge tactics for the purpose of splitting the largely class-based Democratic coalition along racial lines" (Berman, 1994, p. 79).

In 1995, Republicans are again using wedge tactics to split Democrats on the issue of affirmative action. California Go

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on seeks to level the playing field by aggressive outreach recruiting such as advertising job openings in African American newspapers or at women's colleges. Weak affirmative action is the least controversial of preferential policies. Strong affirmative action is often termed reverse discrimination because it gives an outright advantage to women and minorities in rectifying their under-representation in the workplace and at educational institutions. Universities and government agencies establish hiring and admission goals and timetables that sometimes evolve into rigid quotas. White resentment of such quotas often stems from the negative perception that correcting past injustices necessitates the selection of unqualified candidates. This resentment overlooks the fact that hiring and admissions decisions are based on a variety of factors and that unequal opportunities for minorities and women are not only past, but also present problems. An example of modern-day employment discrimination is the administration of former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. Daley's patronage-based political machine successfully excluded African Americans during his 21 years in office. Contracts and city employment were reserved for whites and white
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Approximate Word count = 1654
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)