Affirmative action has been a major issue in America since its beginning. The black rights and women's rights movements of the 1960's fought against injustice and discrimination that had been suffered by minorities for years [Hud99]In response, President Kennedy issued Executive Order 10925 in 1961, creating a Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity and mandating that projects financed by federal funding would "take affirmative action" to ensure that hiring and employment practices were free of racial bias [Hud99]. Two more executive orders in 1965 and 1968 prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, and gender, giving the federal government the power to enforce this prohibition [Hud99]. However, in current times, affirmative action programs have suffered major setbacks. Affirmative action in education has been abolished in Texas by court order, and in California and Washington it has been terminated by public referendum [Byb00].
Currently, the main question concerning affirmative action is whether or not it is the best way to combat inequality. Also: What groups should or should not have affirmative action? When will the problem be "solved" and affirmative action no longer necessary? The term 'affirmative action' includes laws, policies, and programs designed to reduce or eliminate inequality [Hud99]. .
Affirmative action is a major issue because it grants access to institutions and jobs based on innate characteristics such as skin color or gender, and not by just merit. It has come to be seen by many as "reverse discrimination". Many minorities believe that we still need affirmative action because there has not been a significant amount of time since there past wrongs were suffered. "Such programs are.intended to compensate for the persistence of past wrongs in the present by desegregating American institutions and altering the opportunity and outcome structures in American society," [Hud99].