Pro's and Con's of Affirmative Action

Affirmative Action purports to be a method for achieving equal employment opportunity for minorities normally discriminated against in hiring based on race, ethnicity, gender, or other exclusionary criteria (Outtz 1). As a way of redressing past inequalities, Affirmative Action sometimes uses preferential selection to ensure that members of the affected minorities are guaranteed partiality over non-minority applicants. This attempt at fairness has not been met with unequivocal acceptance, however. Opponents of Affirmative Action frame it as reverse discrimination that impedes the rights of qualified non-minority candidates attempting to be hired (Wood 1). As the announcement for the "Affirmative Action Under Fire" Brookings briefing pointedly asks, "Is affirmative action a deeply problematic, divisive, discriminatory and possibly ineffective detour along the road to real equality in America?" The announcement goes on to say, "As the nation continues to debate its racial past and future, the phrase æaffirmative action' endures as a magnet for rancor and confusion" (1998). This paper will discuss the pro's and con's of Affirmative Action to evaluate both sides of this controversy.

Affirmative Action represents an attempt to restore justice where race, gender, and other factors have prevented minorities from enjoying an equal opportunity to get a job, enroll in law school, or be accepted in a