Launched in 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson to redress institutional discrimination against people of color, affirmative action has been effective in helping people of color and other minority groups gain access to jobs and educational opportunities that were previously unavailable to them. Although many critics of affirmative action believe that this policy should no longer be implemented, the U.S. still does not offer sufficient equal opportunities to individuals who are disadvantaged by their race, gender or socioeconomic status. Therefore, affirmative action still needs to be implemented in order to redress the social and economic inequality that continues to plague the American society.
This paper offers arguments in favor of affirmative action and the need for its implementation. Apart from its effectiveness in decreasing institutional discrimination, affirmative action also plays an important role in shaping the values of American society. More than a government policy, affirmative action is a society's commitment to decrease racism and other forms of discrimination. Affirmative action is a powerful policy that serves as a constant reminder to all individuals to analyze whether they are guilty of practicing conscious or unconscious discrimination.
Affirmative action is a policy that ensures equal opportunity to all individuals. For many decades, special privileges have been extended to white people from middle, upper middle and upper class backgrounds. Children of the alumni of many universities are admitted regardless of their academic performance. Job opportunities are circulated around informal networks of friends, family and neighbors. These practices and alliances effectively exclude people of color from knowing about educational and training programs, jobs and promotions. Through affirmative action, the federal law mandates the public advertisement of educational and job opportunities so that all groups of people...