Affirmative action

            Prior to the teachings and ideals of affirmative action, the theories of Martin Luther King .
             existed as a means of creating equality between the masses. Before the mid to late sixties, .
             only the words of Mr. King acted as a threshold between discrimination between different .
             classes of individuals. Currently, affirmative action may be said to be a child of the civil .
             right's movement, which began with Mr. King. Despite the fact that affirmative action, or .
             better known as equity, was designed as a an aid for minorities, many groups today see it .
             as a deterrence in present day social systems. Although the program was first initiated for .
             positive purposes, any new form of movement, which involves favouritism of a certain .
             race, comes along with the glaring eyes of a distrustful nation.
             A notable case is the 1978 Bakke decision involving the University of California's .
             rejection of the plaintiff's application for entree into the University's Medical Program. .
             The plaintiff clearly noted that the University had previously reserved sixteen spaces for .
             minority students in accordance with the affirmative action policy that the University .
             followed. The plaintiff, a white male, brought up the issue that he believed he had been .
             rejected merely on the basis of his Caucasian status, and that minorities who had gained .
             admission into the University had lower test scores then he did . The Bakke Supreme .
             Court dispute reflected the intense and widespread emotions aroused by quotas, by .
             preferential or compensatory treatment, and by affirmative action. Four justices ruled to .
             admit Bakke and against preferential treatment; and one, to achieve some kind of judicial .
             consensus, upheld Bakke's claim of unfair discrimination and ordered Bakke into the .
             medical school while also upholding affirmative action on the right of universities to seek .
             diversity. .
             The Bakke decision further reinforced the thriving white opposition to "reverse .