Affirmative Action
“If affirmative action means what I just described, what I’m for, then I’m for it,” George Bush, 43rd US President, 2001 (2006). If the President of the United States seems to have little understanding of affirmative action, then what must the rest of the country think? This quote sums up the basic understanding of affirmative action for many people and businesses. Many of the myths and misconceptions about affirmative action are understandable, given the history. The reasoning behind affirmative action dates back to the beginning of slavery and the effects from those days has been branded into the core of society. The initial concepts behind the policies and initiatives were to help do away with past and present discrimination. Consequently, to the detriment of many qualified minority and female applicants, affirmative action plans have gotten a bad reputation. Many companies implemented plans that violated other laws because they were desperate to retain their government contracts. However, the elements of affirmative action are complex and can be easily misconstrued by those it applies to in the public and private sector. Furthermore, the interaction with Title VII requirements of Equal Employment Opportunity may lead to additional confusion for many employers.
“Affirmative action is the set of public policies and initiatives designed to help eliminate past and present discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin,” as defined by Marquita Sykes in the article entitled The Origins of Affirmative Action (2008, ¶ 1). Many laws, statues, amendments and court decisions in relation to civil rights were enacted to combat racial discrimination, beginning with the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution which made sl ...