Affirmative Action :: essays research papers

Affirmative Action has been frivolously debated throughout the past 135 years. Citizens of the United States question whether the government should grant certain advantages to races that have endured bigotry in the past. This plan goes by the name of Affirmative Action. Affirmative Action is a federally subsidized program that encourages universities and other educational institutions, to accept a greater number of minority students. Throughout the years, Affirmative Action and the different advocates have changed, but racial inequality remains stagnant. Affirmative action has various proponents and opponents, both of whom seek the eventual goal of an integrated, educated middle class society. The opponents of Affirmative Action argue that it is not the responsibility of the current majority to make up for prior actions; and imposing these types of programs would be a form of so-called, reverse discrimination. The proponents argue that it is everybody’s responsibility to create a society, which gives everybody an equal opportunity regardless of race, and the only way to ascertain this goal is through Affirmative-Action programs. How can this nation come together and disregard the color of a persons skin? Will we reach this goal by subsidizing programs that assist minorities, or shall we sit and wait for time to establish equal opportunity for all? The history of Affirmative Action dates back to the days when the nation attempted to rebuild its society after the civil war. Reconstruction attempted to establish virtuous relations between the white Europeans and black Africans that made up a large part of the American society. The nation was torn on how to establish these relations. Many call Reconstruction the low point of race relations in the United States. This era included the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, defining national citizenship so as to include blacks. This Amendment passed Congress in June 1866 and was ratified, despite rejection by most Southern states (July 28, 1868). In response to the newfound freedom of African Americans, whites incited numerous accounts of violence. White hatred of the black race created an era that experienced the most lynchings in the history of the United States. Whites also began using contemporary forms of labor exploitation to maintain control of their socio-economic advantage. Something needed to be done so that the nation would not split at its seams. One side argued that time was the only solution to racial problems. Creating government programs would make African’s dependent and give them an unfair advantage. â€Å"They were said to be fat state subsidies that unfairly penalized innocent whites and taught blacks self-destructive habits of indolence and independence.† This argument was sustained by the Democratic Party who