Affirmative Action in the United States

Affirmative Action Plan by Black Community - The Dividing Line

A brief history of the growth of equal rights for African Americans in the united states has been one of terrific achievements followed by many little gains and lots of set backs also.  The outlawing of slavery could not instantly make all blacks equivalent with whites in the united states.  It took a time, many subsequent legal steps and also hundreds of social efforts, small and big, to slowly make the improvement we have seen right now.  But even in this era, in a new century, there is an continuous fight against racism.  Seems like we need leadership to guide society to real equal rights as much now as ever before in our historical past.

The abolition of slavery only started the long tough struggle for Black culture to become true part of what is needed to be an American.  That is because even though legal meaning of slavery had been tossed down, cultural systems and behaviors in place to maintain the races separate and also to refuse black people equal rights with whites must be addressed one after the other.

Gradually across the many years, we have seen big improvements but followed by a great cost.  From legal granting of the right to cast their vote to African Americans to the civil legal rights movement to school desegregation, each step of the way came with level of resistance, significant sacrifice and great trouble  from leaders and common citizens as well to make each step towards real equal rights.

Of all of the initiatives to “level the playing field”, Affirmative Action Plan" was the most controversial than all.  In the starting, it had been supposed to be a supplement on the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  With time it had turn out to be clear that in spite of removal of laws that forced discrimination or segregation, there was a natural segregation from the work place which was trying to keep African Americans from having a fair opportunity at jobs due to the prejudices of an employer, even when that prejudice was not legally recognized in the charter of company.

There initially were two major executive orders that built affirmative action a reality.  Us president Kennedy signed the 1st Executive Order 10925 on March 6, 1965 which had been the first law to make mention of phrase.  It was followed by a lot more sweeping Civil Rights Act that was signed in to law by President Johnson.  Together these laws tried to correct by legal means the disparity of chance that existed in work place for anyone of color by instituting a method of quotas which employers had to fulfill to satisfy federal affirmative action minority recruitment levels.

However, as is necessary when the government attempts to impose proper perceptions via legal procedure, these laws frequently created as numerous difficulties for minorities as they healed.  Nevertheless since the application of the quota systems started to become popular, it did open up lots of doors for African Americans that could not have opened because of racial prejudice as well as silent segregation which was keeping the African American community by achieving its financial potential.

In reality, no one really liked this type of imposed fairness procedure.  Whites felt the sting of the artificial system of judgment which was at times called “reverse discrimination”.  While there was clearly some justice which the white community got a taste for what it sensed like to loose out on chance because of the color of the skin, it didn't help the nation in our objective of developing with each other to be one “color blind” community.

 Affirmative action was obviously a combined blessing to the African American community.  As it did its job in the short term to opening doors which were closed because of racism, it isn't the perfect solution.  This is because it could not meet Dr. King’s vision of the world in which a man is judged not from the color of his skin but by his moral character.  We could hope that we all will develop to this point being a culture and looking back on affirmative action as an regrettable but needed provision to support us raise and mature like a truly integrated culture.