affirmative action
On December 31st 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Executive Order 11264, enacting the policy of affirmative action. Enacted in order to grant equal rights and liberties to minorities and women, the order stated: "The contractor will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The contractor will take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Such action shall include, but not be limited to the following: employment, upgrading, demotion, or transfer; recruitment or recruitment advertising; layoff or termination; rates of pay or other forms of compensation; and selection for training, including apprenticeship (U.S. Department of Labor, 2005)." An affirmative action policy tends to involve two key approaches: (1) positive or benign discrimination in which race or some other status is actually taking into account rather than mistreatment; and (2) compensatory action to favor members of the disadvantaged group who themselves may never have been the victims of discrimination (Lowi, 2002).At the time affirmative action was established, there was an apparent need for a change and a way to ensure the rights of those who were being denied equality. It was necessary for the government to set up a regulation requiring people to disband their ignorance. In 1965 and for many of the years following, affirmative action allowed many people the chance at opportunities that they would have otherwise not have had access to, but in today's society, the need for affirmative action is no longer present.
June 5, 2005, nearly 40 years after the enactment of Executive Order 11264, one can see the affects that the signing of that document has created in our society. Walking into restaurants, schools, grocery markets or any other establishment, there are...
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