Essay on Is Diversity The Solution to Affirmative Action

IS DIVERSITY THE SOLUTION TO AFFIRMATIVE ACTION Equal employment practices, in many organizations, have been established through affirmative action programs. These programs were created by government mandate to create a fair and non-discriminatory working environment in organizations. The need for affirmative action was recognized as early as the 1940’s, as a concept, based on the racial diversity of our country. The goal was the redistribution of opportunities on the basis of race. Now as we approach the 21st century, affirmative action seems to be a dying issue, legally and otherwise. The fact still remains that we have a racially and culturally diverse population, here in the United States, and something has to take the place of†¦show more content†¦When affirmative action was established assumptions were made as to the benefits of initiating programs. Joseph Coleman (1997) agree, that the organization and the individuals would benefit and advances of productivity would make it all worth while in the long run ( p. 259). Programs established under the heading of affirmative action have been under close scrutiny for years, and have recently come under fire from many arenas, as being discriminatory toward the dominant race, specifically White males. It is also believed that affirmative action gives preferences to unqualified individuals. Eastland (1996) says, Affirmative action has turned out to be a bargain with the devil, (p. 7). The federal and state laws that pushed implementation of affirmative action programs, did not dictate that quotas be set, but stressed that individuals be judged by their qualifications---meaning skills, knowledge, talent and experience---rather than by their gender, race or national origin. Affirmative action was meant to be an inclusionary action, not an exclusionary one, such as racism. The intent of affirmative action was to bring equality of opportunity to all Americans no matter what their endeavors were. There has been great difficulty in measuring the effects of affirmative action programs over the years. Even though the average of African-Americans and minorities, thatShow MoreRelatedAffirmative Action Is The Perfect Plan1173 Words   |  5 PagesAffirmative Action On March 6th, 1955, President John F. Kennedy signed executive order 10925 enforcing that government corporations not discriminate against anyone based off their race and skin color. This became â€Å"positive† discrimination otherwise known as affirmative action. Affirmative action is a method benefiting anyone who have experienced discrimination particular to one’s education and/ or employment (Affirmative Action). 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