AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
An "Affirmative Action" refers to methods aimed at increasing the numbers of people from specific social groups in employment, education, business, government, and other sectors. These groups usually consist of women and such minorities as African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, disabled people, and Vietnam veterans. Thus, affirmative action is intended to improve and benefit groups that are thought to have undergone discrimination.
Different affirmative-action programs have different features. Some seek only to remove hindrances so that all people may compete equally. Others use numerical goals called quotas to ensure that women or minorities are included in preset proportions. Programs using quotas may prefer members of certain groups. Discrimination is defined as to make a clear distinction between elements. Generally, affirmative action has been undertaken by governments, businesses, or educational institutions to solve and efface the effects of past discrimination against a group, whether by a specific entity, such as a corporation, or by society as a whole.
From the very beginning, affirmative action has been highly controversial. Critics accuse that affirmative action policies, which give special treatment to people based on their participation in a group, violate the principle that all individuals are equal under the law. These critics argue that it is unfair to discriminate against members of one group today to compensate for discrimination against other groups in the past. They believe affirmative action is a form of discrimination that unequally prevents whites and men from being hired and promoted due to the partiality towards blacks and women.
Supporters of affirmative action respo ...