Topic Proposal

Affirmative action, a long-lasting and controversial issue in the United States, attempts to increase diversity in such fields as employment, education and contracting by giving underrepresented minorities (including women) and other disadvantaged groups of people special consideration and advantages. It is very emotional issue too many American’s because today’s society is much more centered around and concerned with racial equality than in the 1960s and 1970s when it was implemented and the civil rights movement had begun. In this economic recession thousands of people are getting laid off and fighting for jobs. Many citizens in the United States feel that affirmative action should be terminated because it violates the same injustices committed by the Jim Crow Laws and violates the public equality, one of the grantees of American citizenship. Affirmative action affects most Americans whether they know it or not. Minorities reap the benefits from the law because they receive special consideration and advantages in order to increase diversity in the university’s and in the workplace. Employers are affected by affirmative action also, hiring some employees based on race, not qualifications for the position. White males are also affected by affirmative action and many feel that hiring by race over qualifications is reverse discrimination, and unconstitutional. As a white male, I am not a supporter of affirmative action. In the past affirmative action was necessary to help rid our society of racial discrimination but in today’s society, as we have a African-American President, I feel that it is no longer necessary.