Cause and Effect Essay (Affirmative Action) Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cause and Effect (Affirmative Action) - Essay Example Affirmative action can be considered one of the most effective means of reversing the injustices that were caused by the centuries-old discrimination against people from minority groups as well as women. It can also be said that it is a means through which the white dominated fields in the United States can be leveled to include minority groups. Despite the institution of affirmative action in our nation, however, the legacy of racism and racism still lives on and this is despite those gains, which were made by the Civil Rights Movement. The opportunities available for those who were previously excluded remain very few and this is one of the reasons that affirmative action is still very much needed today. It has been seen that black people are nearly twice as likely to get employment as white people are and this is despite the fact of the presence of Affirmative action. Not only is the unemployment rate higher among minority groups when compared to whites, these groups have been show n to earn much less than what their white counterparts earn. There tends to be very little likelihood of either black or Latino men to be given employment as managers or, as professionals, therefore, these are more likely to get jobs, which only involve labor. This also applies to women who have to work much harder and for lesser pay than their male counterparts do in order to get positions of authority (Phelan 376). To correct this, more needs to be done to ensure that such inequalities do not persist in American society so that the gap that has existed between the different groups for centuries get to be filled and the dream of equality becomes a reality. The main purpose of affirmative action is the promotion of fairness and equality in American society. In the United States, what is popularly known as the American dream is always framed as a race in which the swiftest people always win (Lawson 281). This is a very wrong impression of the American Dream because not everybody in t he United States started at the same level considering that minorities tended to be excluded from some of the most important aspects of American life. Therefore, Affirmative action exists in order to ensure that everybody in American society starts from the same level so that all can achieve their dreams fairly. Therefore, it does not give an advantage to the minorities in discrimination of white people and instead, it is meant to correct those practices, which had conspired to keep minorities behind while others continued with their advancement in society. Affirmative action is in reality a policy of inclusion whose purpose is to ensure that all people have an equal chance to compete in making their dreams and aspirations come true. Previously, minority groups were completely excluded from the majority of economic activities in the United States except for those who were considered labor intensive. Moreover, these groups were rarely ever accepted in the mainstream American life unt il after the institution of Affirmative action. From its very beginning, there has been opposition towards it with those against it stating that it is giving an unfair advantage to minority groups over other people. They further state that affirmative action goes against the spirit of the American Constitution due to the fact