History, Intent & Consquences of Affirmative Action This paper examines one of the most cont

Affirmative action was born in the Civil Rights era of the 1960s when formal legal protections were seen as necessary not only to safeguard the rights of social minorities but were needed to go a step beyond this, to guarantee a helping hand to those groups in society that had suffered past discrimination. The intent of affirmative action laws and policies was to create what might be seen as a slightly slanting playing field, which would tip things just ever so slightly in favor of minorities (including women). After some number of years, the playing field could once more be leveled, for once every member of society was judged on his or her own merits, talents and qualifications, affirmative action policies could wither away, like the government would in a fully realized socialist state.

While the intent of affirmative action - to make America a truly equal society for all Americans - cannot be viewed as anything but good (except by racists and other bigots), the actuality of affirmative action has had unintended and negative consequences that have lead in at least some cases to the striking down of affirmative action laws, such as happened when the Californian electorate passed Proposition 206.

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Rights Act, and it upheld a federal statute that requires a certain percentage of government contracts to be given to minority-owned businesses (Chavez, 1998, p. 24). With these decisions it can be seen that the court, along with the rest of American society, was trying to find a balance between protecting the rights of the majority (in this case, white men, who of course do not make up the majority of American society in terms of numbers but constitute a sociological majority because they hold the majority of power and wealth in American society) with the needs of minorities to make up ground for past discrimination. Benefits and Failings of Affirmative Action Affirmative action laws dramatically improved society for women and racial minorities in a number of different arenas. Impressive gains have been made by minorities in education, employment, and to a lesser degree in housing (this latter is mostly true of minorities). The United States in the year 2000 is a substantially more equitable country than it was in 1950. Nevertheless, historic patterns of hiring and promotion leave nonwhite minorities economically vulnerable, especially in a weak national economy. The hoped-for benefits of affirmative action have not been ne
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Approximate Word count = 1464
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)