Affirmative Action

Affirmative Action is the attempt by the government to prevent organizations from discriminating and ensure nondiscriminatory results in employment practices in the future. Affirmative action was originally constructed by President Johnson as Executive Order 11246 and has been steadily changed and molded into the laws that are set in place today from years of court proceedings and controversies. Affirmative action use the following according to NCSU: workforce analysis which collect employee workforce data and collects external availability data from the labor market and census data, availability analysis which uses external availability data to compute and separate by job group, utilization analysis which compare resulting workforce and availability to compute incumbency vs. availability, and goals and time tables to meet the hiring personnel goals. America has taken many great leaps in forming a more diverse working class I still believe there are many more that must be taken, however I’m torn in my response to the question. I believe in equality across the board, survival of the fittest, and let the best person win mentality so no person should be lowered or raised because of a law. Yet my official opinion on this matter however will be pro affirmative action simply because we do not live in a perfect world where people are judged off their merit and their ability to perform a task. There are downfalls to the program such as many people believe it just causes reverse discrimination singling out white males. There is also the idea that people were promoted, hired, or elected in their position because of these laws just so organizations look better on paper as we discussed in class. Since the establishment of affirmative action programs, women and minorities have experienced significant employment gains. Also noted in the book is that in the first 25 years following the government’s affirmative action efforts the participation by blacks in the workforce increased