Essay on Affirmative Action
The affirmative action emerged in response to the persisting inequality in the US society and attempted to close gaps between people that would help to prevent tension and confrontation between the privileged mainstream social group and discriminated groups, which consisted of low-income employees, minorities, and female employees.
Historically, the affirmative action in the US was started by the US government and legislators and the growing public pressure and emerging social problems. The National Labor Relations Act also known as Wagner Act of 1935 was the first major legal act that has launched the affirmative action in the US. The Wagner Act aimed at low-income groups mainly and provided employees with the right to unionize without fear of being discriminated by employers. The development of FDR New Deal programs contained equal opportunity clauses that also contributed to the enhancement of the affirmative action policies in the US.
Truman issued the Executive Order 9808 that established the President’s Committee on Civil Rights, which examined cases of violence and provided legal recommendations to prevent violence and discrimination.
At the same time, the affirmative action policies aimed at specific industries. At this point, it is possible to refer to Nixon’s Philadelphia Order of 1969, which was the most forceful plan to guarantee fair employment practices in construction jobs.
The affirmative action has a considerable social influence since it focuses on the inclusion of minority or discriminated groups and provides them with equal rights and opportunities facilitating their inclusion and integration into the workplace environment. The creation of equal employment opportunities contributes to the elimination of social differences and the society becomes less diverse and socioeconomic disparities become less striking.
The group dynamics was, to a certain extent, one of the drivers of the affirmative action because different social and racial groups have a different group dynamics. What is meant here is the fact that some social groups progressed faster and enhanced their socioeconomic standing, while others stumbled and lived in poverty. The affirmative action aimed at closing the gap not only between these groups but also and mainly between the groups’ dynamics. In such a way, the affirmative action sped up the development of low-income or discriminated groups to help them to catch up with the mainstream group dynamics.
The affirmative action has influenced substantially interpersonal relations between employees because employees from minority groups, for instance, African Americans, suffered discrimination in the workplace environment and had worse job opportunities compared to employees representing the mainstream culture. As a result, interpersonal relations between employees representing minority and mainstream groups were quite tensed. The affirmative action has eased the tension because it has contributed to the decrease of the difference and provided them with equal rights and opportunities. The equal position of all employees contributes to the improvement of their interpersonal relations because, having equal rights and opportunities, they view each other as equals.
However, the implementation of the affirmative action faced several challenges, among which deep-rooted biases and prejudices have proved to be the most significant challenges. In this regard, it is worth mentioning the fact that white employees often opposed to the affirmative action which granted non-white employees new job opportunities, thus, enhancing the competition between white and non-white employees.
The affirmative action was also viewed as the violation of human rights and contradicted to the traditional American culture and lifestyle because Americans traditionally believed the career of an individual to be a private matter and the government should not interfere into the regulation of the labor relations creating better employment opportunities for certain groups to close gaps between those groups and other employees, for example.
Law enforcement agencies also confronted substantial challenges since regulatory functions also required professionals working in law enforcement agencies to overcome their biases and prejudices. As a result, they faced the problem of the adequate execution of legal norms that enhance the affirmative action.
In addition, the affirmative action still failed to close the gap between the rich and the poor because of the historical difference in the development of the mainstream group and discriminated groups. For instance, representatives of African American and other non-white communities historically had the limited access to education that deprived them of better job opportunities even after the introduction of legal acts in terms of the affirmative action policies. As a result, in spite of the affirmative action the inequality between employees persisted.
At the same time, researchers (Greenberg, 2003) state that the affirmative action was an essential step to close gaps and prevent the further aggravation of the situation in the US. If the problem of persisting inequality has remained unresolved and the affirmative action has never been introduced, the US could have confronted the large scale social conflict and riots that could have outgrown into a new civil war. Furthermore, researchers (Hastings, 2006) are reasonable in their arguments that the affirmative action confronted the opposition from the large part of the US society because the majority viewed the affirmative action as the threat to their position. In addition, researchers (Hamby, 2001) point out that the affirmative action contributed to the enhancement of the employment legislation and tighter regulation of the employment relations which protected employees from discrimination.
On the other hand, some researchers (Hastings, 2006) argue that the affirmative action created the ground for protectionist policies conducted by the state. However, such argument is questionable in light of the long-lasting discrimination of minority groups. Also, researchers (Greenberg, 2003) argue that the affirmative action contradicts to the US democratic norms. But the discrimination of certain groups also contradicts to democratic norms and principles. Therefore, the affirmative action is fair practice. In addition, researchers (Hastings, 2006) argue that the affirmative action led to the overregulation of the employment relations. However, the affirmative action also contributed to the better self-organization of employees and their unionization that does not involve the excessive regulation from the part of the state.
The affirmative action should not be just the matter of the government policy but it is also the matter of each individual. People should accept the affirmative action as the essential step to prevent social injustice. In addition, people should support the affirmative action maintaining fair practices in the field of employment. Such policies should be supported by the criminal justice system which should prosecute organizations and individuals violating principles of equality. Moreover, the criminal justice system should implement the principle of affirmative action within law enforcement agencies and courts to prevent further cases of discrimination.
Thus, the affirmative action was and still is an essential policy to eliminate inequality and prejudiced attitude to certain social groups from the part of the mainstream group.
Do you like this essay?
Our writers can write a paper like this for you!
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading...