...Abstract Using research references written by Dawn D. Bennett-Alexander, Laura P. Hartman, Raina Kelley, Brian Lilley and Jonathan Stempel, I examined the results of their findings in relation to my project. Based on their information, I determined affirmative action is still an instrumental tool in balancing the work force in the United States. There are still jobs that are out of reach for certain minority groups. As long as this imbalance exists so does the need for affirmative action. Do We Need Affirmative Action? Is affirmative action still needed in today’s society? Some people do not think so; others do. I believe affirmative action is still necessary as long as a minority group of people (Blacks, Hispanics, Women, etc.) attempting to acquire jobs in certain markets believes they are not getting those jobs because they are being discriminated against by the majority group that holds them. I will attempt to present some sources to reinforce my conclusion. I will discuss the original purpose of affirmative action and present some cases being discussed or ruled on in present day courts. I hope to show that affirmative action expands opportunity by promoting inclusion of underrepresented minorities in all areas of the job market and it is not intended to take jobs away from those in the majority. Its Purpose I’ve been in the military since 1987. The military has a zero tolerance rule for any type of discrimination and it’s strictly enforced from the top...
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...Some of the arguments against affirmative action include: * It is unfair to judge applicants on anything other than their merits. – There are numerous factors that a college should take into account when considering applicants – grades, test scores, and extra-curricular activities. An applicant’s race is not a legitimate factor to take into consideration because it is outside of the student’s control. It is impossible for a college to consider every aspect of a student’s background when making decisions on whom to admit. Why focus on race when there are so many other things that differentiate students from one another? * Affirmative action does not lead to true diversity. – Diversity of opinion is important in an academic community, not racial diversity. Affirmative action provides an advantage to some people because of the color of their skin. This is not an attribute that is relevant to the academic mission of a college. Affirmative action gives preferential treatment based exclusively on race, which is a purely external characteristic. * Affirmative action does not help really disadvantaged groups. – In many cases, affirmative action does not achieve its goal of helping disadvantaged minority groups. What it does is perpetuates socioeconomic inequalities by making it easy for members of racial minorities from privileged backgrounds to get into prestigious colleges while not helping members of the lower classes. * White Men Win $11 million Lawsuit for Reverse...
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...effects of racial discrimination is unconstitutional. They argue that the idea of reparations is rooted in international law. • Affirmative Action is inadequate, the ‘Maafa’ (meaning disaster, i.e., slavery) is a crime against humanity, and therefore compensation is required. • In the past 50 years apologies and financial compensation has been given to a wide range of groups, including survivors of the Jewish holocaust (as well as descendants of the victims), Japanese-Americans who were imprisoned during the Second World War and native Americans who had their land illegally seized in the USA. • African Americans have been demanding compensation for slavery since the end of the American Civil War. Immediately after the abolition of slavery, the demand was for 40 acres and a mule to ensure they would not be dependent on their former slave-owners. Then, between 1890 and 1917, there was a movement to lobby the government for pensions to compensate for their unpaid labour under slavery. Since 1989, Congressman John Conyers Jnr (Michigan) has introduced a bill every year to study the case for reparations. Each of these initiatives has been largely ignored by the political establishment. • Reparations would ensure full recognition of the scale of the Maafa and, at the same time, undermine those who claim that there is no further need for Affirmative Action. They would also compensate for slavery, provide psychological relief for black anger and white guilt resulting from centuries...
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...ETH/125 | Irish American Immigration | | | 6/12/2011 | | Though an Irish immigrants life in Ireland was cruel was cruel. Immigrating to America was not any better. Many immigrated to America to escape poverty, disease, and English oppression, they would face if they stayed in Ireland. They set out in masses on crowded ships called coffin ships, because they were the last resting place for many who crossed the Atlantic Ocean towards the land of prosperity. (yourirish.com) Once the immigrants stepped ashore they were pointed and laughed at because of their appearance. (Gavin, 2000) They would face segregation immediately, faced to live in slums of the major cities. Their living quarters of the immigrants would often consisting of a one room apartment, with no windows or ventilation, having to share a bathroom with other tenants, even worse were those who lived in cellars and shanties. (www. Kinsella.org) Being unfamiliar with plumbing and running water, the Irish immigrants were considered bad for the neighborhood. These conditions would breed sickness and early death. Immigrant workers would work any job available. This would cause United States citizens to have to fight for jobs. Racism would breed from this, local establishments would place signs in front of their businesses, and in local job postings, which stated, “No Irish Need Apply”, and some even would state “NO DOGS, NO BLACKS, AND NO IRISH”. (Gavin, 2000) The Irish people set out...
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...Brazil tended to die younger than North American slaves. Defining the children of slaves as slaves was not as economically important as it was in the United States. Long time Portuguese immigrants to Brazil were mostly male. Also, creating a clear “black-white” dichotomy was not as important as it was in the United States. 2. There are several ways that whitening was pursued. One way is that they encouraged and subsidized the immigration of European workers and completely banned black immigration. Whitening in Brazil also included active encouragement of racial intermarriage to improve black genetics with white genes. Those few blacks who were able to crawl up the class ladder were also whitened. The third way is that the whitening policy also allowed what was called the mulatto escape hatch. Most poor blacks viewed their difficulties in terms of class, not race. 3. The most dramatic recent change in Brazil’s racial policies was the government’s official endorsement of a quota-based affirmative action program. Those who opposed affirmative action argued that it is impossible to determine who is truly black and therefore deserve preferential treatment. 4. One way that Brazil’s weak political parties are becoming stronger lately is that legislatures voted with their parties to a higher degree than has been assumed. They suggested that party leaders were able to marshal their troops in favor of their preferred policies. Another reason is the presence of the PT. The...
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...on the processes within the human resources department when relating to rationale and compassion within the workplace being replaced by litigation. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a law that was put into effect to protect individuals from being discriminated against during hiring processes. The Civil Rights Act has three sections which include equal opportunity, affirmative action, and sexual harassment (Cliff Notes, 2011). These three sections have an impact on the human resources department and it is important that human resources managers comply with these laws. The Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) laws protect individuals from being discriminated against based on their age, gender, or race. Equal Employment Opportunity regulations help ensure that all individuals are given an equal opportunity when applying for a job or when individuals are considering working towards a promotion. Affirmative action requires that employers put forth additional effort to select and promote individuals who belong to a protected group. Eliminating the effects of prior discrimination is also considered to be an affirmative action. The Equal Employment Opportunity law was put into effect by the commission and enforces the most important labor laws in the United States. Separately from the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equal Employment Opportunity commission manages the compliance with the Civil Rights Act of...
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...In 1961, John F. Kennedy first coined the term “affirmative action” to assure that disadvantaged groups received equal employment and educational opportunities as well as were treated without discrimination (“Affirmative Action: Overview”). Since the 60s, affirmative action programs have been implemented by employers and colleges across the United States with the interest of promoting diversity among the workforce. However, as society has progressed, these policies have become outdated. Affirmative action should be eliminated in America because it stigmatizes minorities and women, facilitates reverse discrimination, and lowers academic standards for disadvantaged groups. Affirmative action policies arose from the Civil Rights Movement in the...
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...HR Acronym-Soup AA | Affirmative Action | AAP | Affirmative Action Plan | ADA | Americans w/Disability Act | ADEA | Age Discrimination in Employment Act | ADR | Alternative Dispute Resolution | AISES | American Indian Society for Engineering and Sciences | ASP | Application Service Provider | BFOQ | Bona Fide Occupational Qualification | BLS | Bureau of Labor Statistics | COLA | Cost of Living Adjustment | CPI | Consumer Price Index | CV | Curriculum Vitae | DOL | Department of Labor | EEO | Equal Employment Opportunity | EEOC | Equal Employment Opportunity Commission | ERP | Enterprise Resource Planning | EVP | Employee Value Proposition | FCRA | Fair Credit Reporting Act | FLSA | Fair Labor Standards Act | FMLA | Family & Medical Leave Act | FTE | Full Time Equivalent | GINA | Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act | HIPAA | Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act | HRIS | Human Resources Information Systems | HRP | Human Resource Planning | IRCA | Immigration Reform & Control Act | IRCA | Immigration Reform and Control Act | JAN | Job Accommodation Network | JOLTS | Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey | KPE | Key Performance Indicators | KSAO | Knowledge Skills Abilities and Other Characteristics | MBO | Management by Objective | MBTI | Myers-Briggs Type Indicator | NAACP | National Association for the Advancement of Colored people | NAFTA | North American Free Trade Agreement...
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...------------------------------------------------- Research: Affirmative Action. Do you feel that affirmative action has a place in today's society? Do you support or oppose its role in today's politics and our lives? Why? Affirmative action is a term most Americans are familiar with, but a term that is not always well understood. To clarify, as defined in Politics in America by Thomas Dye, affirmative action is any government or private program designed to help offset the effects of “past unequal treatment of minorities and/or women by giving members of these groups preferential treatment in admissions, hiring, promotions, or other aspects of life” (Dye, 2009, p. 551). Over time, affirmative action has resulted in an array of policies or programs specifically designed with the intention to enhance employment and business opportunities, or educational programs for groups, such as ethnic or racial minorities, as well as women, who all, as a group, have suffered discrimination. However, the approach in which these policies or programs are employed, the forms of action they entail, and the far-reaching repercussions they convey for our society may deviate from one specific program to another. Since its founding, the belief in human equality has guided the American republic. Of the truths held to be self-evident in the Declaration of Independence, the very first and foremost is that “all men are created equal.” This certainty is deep-seated as we recognize intuitively the equality...
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...society becoming increasingly “race-based”? Why did race become one of the most important parts of national life? 3. According to Brodkin what was “the biggest and best affirmative action program”? Discuss two factors pointed out by her that contributed to the success of Jews. 4. John Smith a middle class white man, has lunch with Tatum (Defining Racism) and Lipsitz (Possessive Investment in Whiteness). Lipsitz says, “The U.S. is a racist society.” Tatum nods in agreement. John says, “I know what you mean. Yesterday, I got lost in a poor, black area of Washington D.C. I stopped for fast food and a black female server ignored my order and took the order of the black guy behind me. Role play Tatum and Lipsitz. How will you (as Tatum and Lipsitz respond to Smith’s remark? We have a white dominant society. Can refer Schwalbe’s idea. Using the terms carefully. Different ethnics groups can be prejudice against others but has to be rational thinking. Its prejudice, not racist. Encountering prejudice is not pleasant but it does not effect your life chances. Police system was created for slaves – aka slave control. 5. What are the pros and cons of busing? How are busing and tracking connected? Drawing on Lareau and one other reading present your evaluation of whether affirmative action has a place in college admission policies Pro – desegregates communities, forces whites and blacks to have same resources Cons- unfair, African Americans have...
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...Affirmative Action Term Paper Abstract Human Resource Management is one the most important aspects of a company. Its successful implementation is crucial for an organization being able to thrive. Human Resource Professionals handle areas such as employment, recruitment and selection, performance and evaluation, compensation and benefits, personal professional development, safety and health forecasting and labor relations. This paper will focus on the topic of Affirmative Action and its policies which is an important aspect of Human Resource Management. Without its inclusion, companies would not be able to be successful the way they are today. Discriminatory beliefs were overturned by policies of Affirmative Action. Diversity such as race, color, religion, gender and national origin are now contributing to an organizations success rate in the race for market dominance. This paper is structured into an historical overview of Affirmative Action, its advantages and disadvantages and the future of Human Resources in regards to Affirmative Action. Introduction People have always been an important part of an organization. However it is important not just to value such an important asset but also develop and improve it. This is the job of the Human Resource Department. It manages an organization's workforce. The responsibility of the Human Resource Department is the attraction, selection, training, assessment, and rewarding of employees, as well as overseeing organizational...
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...GENDER-BASED AFFIRMATIVE ACTION AND REVERSE GENDER BIAS: BEYOND GRATZ, PARENTS INVOLVED, AND RICCI ROSALIE BERGER LEVINSON* I. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II. History Behind the Affirmative Action Race/Gender Anomaly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . III. The Circuit Split on the Race/Gender Conundrum . . . . . . . . . IV. Analogy to Race-Based Affirmative Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A. Remedial Purpose as a Justification for Affirmative Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B. The Diversity Rationale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C. The Arguments Against Affirmative Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . V. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I. INTRODUCTION The blockbuster race discrimination cases in recent years have all involved affirmative action and reverse discrimination. The Supreme Court has made it clear that race classifications, whether benign or invidious, will trigger rigid strict scrutiny analysis, which requires that the government prove its program is narrowly tailored to serve a compelling interest. In 2003, the Court, in Gratz v. Bollinger,1 ruled that while student diversity in educational institutions may be a compelling interest, an affirmative action program that...
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...There are so many problems that we face in our society today and it’s just hard to pick one, but the one that I am going to address is Racial Discrimination and Hispanics in the US. The reason that I have chosen this is because it is subject that doesn’t get addressed as much as it does with African Americans. Now racial discrimination is a term that is used to let you know about how unfair or unruly behavior can be when it is directed to a certain race. Now as far as we can remember racial discrimination goes back as far as we can remember. Now racial discrimination is not only directed to one race it is all races like African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, and Hispanics, and of course other races. Now when it comes to the Hispanics they have had a hard time to be able to fit in and be fully accepted, and have the same opportunity as the rest. Hispanics are about 12.5% of our population here in the US, although Hispanics have been considered as a minority group of our population that is also very often looked at as a monolithic community. It’s sad that they have to discriminate and it continues in the workplace, and pretty much where ever they go. Now according to a report that was released on Human Rights Record of the United States, there is one in every three Hispanics in the US that doesn’t have health insurance. The poverty rate for Hispanics is 21.9% compared to the non-Hispanic Whites and there rate is 8.6%, wow that is a big difference. Now from what...
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...Abstract This paper reviewed the literature on the relationship between human resource management (HRM) and the issue of diversity. Presently, there is a growing need to introduce diversity in the work place for the benefit of varying organizations and their human resource needs. Doing so would help them build up creative ideas and experiences, while mingling with people from diverse backgrounds. However, diversity could have negative effects as well in terms of conflicts among employees, and in several other instances. HRM is responsible for providing equal opportunities, and resolving the issues that arise due to diversity. Positive impacts were observed where organizations promoted learning environment. It also highlights different strategies that could be applied for effective diversity management. On the other hand, a need to act sensitively towards employees of diverse background was discussed, while providing them with growth opportunities could help in increasing productivity. Issue statement Human Resource Management (HRM) covers different aspects of an organization, from the recruitment of its employees, to the management of all works, and the problem solving issues that are directly affecting the organizations’ employees. Employees are an asset to an organization, and HRM is responsible for providing them with opportunities to learn and acknowledge their achievements especially in an organization with diverse employees. On the other hand...
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...Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodríguez Hunger of Memory is an autobiography of the writer Richard Rodríguez and his transition from youth to manhood told through a series of recollected stories. The premise of his writing was centered mainly on his struggle to maintain both his Mexican heritage and closeness to his Spanish-speaking family, while at the same time being assimilated into American culture and obtaining an advanced education. Within the book Richard Rodríguez illustrates his contempt for affirmative action and bilingual education, two practices that had directly burdened his life while growing up. One of his main conflicts was grounded in his own family unintentionally being pulled away from him by losing the most important medium of relation, their language. Through his narrative, Richard Rodríguez makes a convincing argument against the implementation of affirmative action, even as one who stood to benefit from the program. When he was very young, Richard Rodríguez immigrated to the United States with his family to live in a predominantly white-Anglo, middle class neighborhood in Sacramento, California. Rodríguez’s parents were poor, but what money they could scrape together they used to send their children to the local Roman Catholic elementary school, Sacred Heart. Rodríguez knew less than 50 words of English at the start of his attendance in school, leading him to be introverted and shy in class. He rarely spoke, and finally...
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