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Affirmative Action


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             In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson, who said that opening the gates of opportunity to the minorities was just not enough to right the past wrongs, issued another Executive Order in which he stated that, "It is the policy of the Government of the United States to provide equal opportunity in federal employment for all qualified persons, to prohibit discrimination in employment because Or race, creed, color or national origin, and to promote the full realization of equal employment opportunity through a positive, continuing program in each department and agency." In the 1967 the act was broadened to cover sexual discrimination. .
             The concept of quotas came into effect in 1971 during the administration of President Nixon, when the Department of Labor reissued an Order requiring all employers to develop an effective Affirmative Action program. All employers were expected to overcome the problem of "underutilization" which meant "having fewer minorities or women in a particular job classification than would reasonably be expected by their availability." .
             Affirmative Action: Beneficial or Detrimental.
             Throughout the years many people began noticing the apparent flaws in this policy, amid and despite its good intentions. The phrase that "bounced" around most was "Reverse Discrimination" alleging that in the course of eradicating bias and bigotry towards minorities, the mainstream Americans were being subjected to discrimination. One white Californian, Allan Bakke, made headlines in 1978 when the Supreme Court, by the narrowest of margins (5 to 4) upheld his claim that his application to medical school has been turned down because of an admissions program that partially favored minority applicants. In a painful decision, reflecting the disturbing moral uncertainties and inexplicable political intricacies of this issue, the Court ordered the University of California at Davis medical school to admit Bakke, and declared that preference in admissions could not be given to members of any group, either minority or majority, on the basis of ethnic or racial identity alone.


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