Affirmative Action :: essays research papers

Affirmative Action in Higher EducationIn its tumultuous forty year history, optimistic pull through has been both praised and attacked as an answer to racial inequality. The policy was introduced by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965 as a method of redressing discrimination that persisted despite civil right efforts and constitutional guarantees. After the passage of Title VII, which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex and depicted object origin, President Johnson shaped affirmative action mechanism through the passage of Executive Order 11246 in 1965. The executive order requires government contractors to "take affirmative action" toward prospective minority employees in all aspects of hiring and employment. On college camp determinations nation wide, the debate over affirmative action policies started with the implementation of Title VII. Many viewed affirmative action programs as a tool that would not only expand the opportunit ies of minorities but also play a significant role in diversifying Americas colleges and universities. However, in the late 1970s, despite its good intentions, flaws in the policy began to show up. Reverse discrimination became an issue, exemplified by the Regents of California vs. Bake case in 1978. Allan Bakke, a white applicant, had been denied admission twice to the University of California Medical School at Davis, while less qualified minority scholars were being accepted. The medical school had correct admission policies for minority students and reserved and certain amount of spaces specifically for minorities. Bakke had felt that he had been discriminated against and maintained that his rejection violated the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment, so he took the University of California Regents to the Supreme Court of California. The Supreme Court ruled that while race was a legitimate factor in school admissions, the use of quotas as the medical school had s et aside was not.The most important affirmative action decisions since the Bakke decision were in the landmark 2003 cases involving University of Michigans affirmative action programs. Two cases, first tried in 2000 and 2001, were involved Gratz v. Bollinger, which challenged the University of Michigans undergraduate admissions policy and Grutter v. Bollinger which challenged its law school admissions policy. As Bakke had done before, both Gratz and Grutter challenged the constitutionality of the Universitys admission policy, which they argued, was in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the fourteenth amendment. The Supreme Court upheld the University of Michigan Law Schools policy, govern that race can be one of many factors considered by colleges when selecting their students because it furthers "a compelling interest in obtaining the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body.