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Affirmative Action Friend or Foe

Affirmative Action refers to tangible steps taken with policies, laws or acts to promote access to education, employment or government programs meant to do right by groups that were historically socially or politically challenged or disadvantaged because they were the non-dominant group; characteristically minorities or women. The motivation for Affirmative Action policies has been to rectify the effects of past discrimination and favoritism and to encourage public institutions such as schools, universities, hospitals and government agencies to do more to represent the diversity of the population at large in the United States. The term has been applied to the practice of reserving positions for minorities in admissions programs, government quotas in hiring, corporate promotions, and the rehiring of certain groups with less job seniority than others.
 
Have you or someone you know been the victim of discrimination? Contact a lawyer that understands the discrimination and affirmative action laws today to help you get the justice you deserve!

Some people feel that Affirmative Action policies are just a different form of discrimination because it can result in qualified applicants being denied entry to higher education, employment, or eligibility for certain government programs because they belong to a particular social group. The policies amount to discrimination against members of a dominant or majority group, especially when resulting from policies established to correct discrimination against members of a minority or disadvantaged group.

Some of the ways Affirmative Action can cause discrimination are:

• Termination, suspension, or demotion
• Cutting or altering your hours 
• Changing your job responsibilities
• Inequality in pay, retirement plans, or disability leave
• Creating an antagonistic work atmosphere or harassment at work
• Disparity in options of relocation, transfer, promotion, layoff, or recall
• Training and apprenticeship programs

Some groups who are singled out for affirmative action cases are characterized by race, religion, gender, nationality, ethnicity, or disability status. When members of targeted groups are aggressively sought out or favored, the reason given is usually that this is essential to recompense for advantages that other socially dominant groups are said to have had or abused in the past. There has been much debate whether affirmative action infringes on the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

The foundation for affirmative action is that a simple adoption of ethics of merit along the lines of social blindness to the different affected social groups of the population, or that purely relying on the people in power to make fair public advancing decisions or to behave in a just and reasonable manner will not be enough to change the situation for most people affected by past injustice.

Have you or someone you know been the victim of discrimination? Contact a lawyer that understands the discrimination and affirmative action laws today to help you get the justice you deserve!

Article written by Juan Carlos Villamil contributing staff writer for SWI Digital, Inc.