Affirmative Action
Candlefocus EditorIn the United States, affirmative action has its origins rooted in the Civil Rights Movement and the passage of civil rights legislation in the 1960s. As an effort to increase equal access and opportunity for those communities which are typically socially, politically, and economically underprivileged, affirmative action established legal definitions for and addressed inequalities in hiring, admission, and promotion practices within institutions and public/private employers. The US Supreme Court was the first body to recognize and approve legislative practices of affirmative action in 1971, ruling that the University of California was in compliance with the law when their practices of preferential admission policies were challenged in the Bakke case.
Since then, affirmative action has become a commonly used tool to combat discrimination that minority groups face within almost all sectors in America. It has also been used as a method to improve the representation of women on corporate boards, encouraging greater gender balance in the workplace. Laws implementing affirmative action are now in effect in many countries, ranging from India and Malaysia to the United Kingdom.
While affirmative action is an incredibly important tool in combating lingering systematic discrimination, there has been much criticism surrounding the policy. Some argue that it has not been a highly successful tool in achieving the intended goals, instead creating a cycle of tokenism and discrimination against privileged classes of people. Additionally, it is often accused of creating a form of reverse discrimination, whereby less qualified individuals are hired in the name of affirmative action over individuals who are more qualified for a position. This type of criticism creates an unfair dichotomy in which minority individuals must choose between acceptable and more qualified, which is not the goal of the policy.
Regardless, it is undeniable that affirmative action has acted as an important counterweight in U.S. institutions to past discriminatory practices and continues to be the foundation of modern social justice efforts. Affirmative action is still today working to create a workforce that reflects greater equity and equal access to resource, regardless of identity.