Affirmative Action  Tags: affirmative_action ugl_subject_guide discrimination ugl  

affirmative action
affirmative action programs
discrimination in employment
reverse discrimination
positive discrimination
preferential treatment
set-asides
quotas
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke

In Social Issues in America: An Encyclopedia, they define affirmative action as “a set of public-policy initiatives designed to help rectify past and prevent future discriminatory practices based on race, gender, religion or national origin.” The rise in this sort of legislation came in the 1960s when employers and academic institutions designed systems of providing opportunities to minority groups and women. Policy makers hoped to level the playing field, but have been met with cries of “reverse discrimination” instead. Cases such as the Regents of the University of California v. Bakke illustrate this side of the issue. In this example, a white male, Allan Bakke, applied to the University of California and was not accepted. In his opinion and ultimately the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion, he was a victim of reverse discrimination. The Court upheld that while affirmative action programs are constitutional, quota systems based on race are not. The future of this issue remains unclear and controversial. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton once said that affirmative action should be “mended, not ended.”

LS 3/7/08