Affirmative Action

Persuasive Essay # 64644

African-American Studies > Racism
Hot Topics > Affirmative Action
Sociology > Welfare

Affirmative Action

A pro-affirmative action opinion paper.

1,393 words () | 6 sources | MLA | 2005 Pakistan

Paper Summary:

This paper posits that affirmative action is a benefit to society as a whole, despite the fact that it is sometimes criticized. The paper shows how affirmative action has benefited the weaker echelons of society and how this is often their only hope of bettering themselves.

From the Paper:

"Affirmative action and other race-conscious remedies were created to erase the differences in rights and opportunities defined by that color line. National anxiety about affirmative action has never been higher. That is saying a lot, considering how controversial affirmative action has been since it was introduced twenty-five years ago. The controversy starts with the identification of affirmative action with jobs, prime but elusive possessions in our market economy. Whether it raises hopes or anxiety, to the average American of every background, affirmative action means jobs. Employment, more than other areas, has given definition to affirmative action. The term was first applied to employment and for years applied only to job discrimination. Although variations are used in education, government contracting, and voting rights, affirmative action and jobs go together in the public mind. Because there have never been enough jobs to go around, affirmative action has had a precarious existence, even as it became increasingly widespread. Although strong national leadership and crafty legal action may well save it, affirmative action will always have to watch its proverbial back. "The aim of affirmative action is to remove these unwarranted self-imposed limitations on career aspirations: to expand people's sense of what is possible for them, so that they can subject the full range of options to the kind of individualized scrutiny that is appropriate to career decisions and goals" (Stroud 385). Affirmative action is without a doubt necessary."