25 Facts About Affirmative action

Historically and internationally, support for affirmative action has sought to achieve goals such as bridging inequalities in employment and pay, increasing access to education, promoting diversity, and redressing apparent past wrongs, harms, or hindrances.

Supporters of affirmative action argue that it promotes equality and representation for groups which are socioeconomically disadvantaged or have faced historical discrimination or oppression.

Opponents of affirmative action have argued that it is a form of reverse discrimination, that it tends to benefit the most privileged within minority groups at the expense of the least fortunate within majority groups, or that when applied to universities it can hinder minority students by placing them in courses too difficult for them.

Affirmative action is intended to promote the opportunities of defined minority groups within a society to give them equal access to that of the majority population.

In some countries that have laws on racial equality, affirmative action is rendered illegal because it does not treat all races equally.

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Affirmative action was introduced through the Employment Equality Act, 55 in 1998,4 years after the end of apartheid.

Similarities between the BEE and affirmative action are apparent; however there is a difference.

Affirmative action focused on combating structural racism and racial inequality, hoping to maximize diversity in all levels of society and sectors.

Affirmative action created marginalization for coloured and Indian races in South Africa, as well as developing and aiding the middle and elite classes, leaving the lower class behind.

Class-based affirmative action policy was incorporated into the admission practices of the four most selective universities in Israel during the early to mid-2000s.

Reservation in India is a form of affirmative action designed to improve the well-being of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes, defined primarily by their caste.

Since the 1980s, a French version of affirmative action based on neighborhood is in place for primary and secondary education.

The ruling stated that "while positive Affirmative action can be used to boost diversity, it should only be applied to distinguish between candidates who were all equally well qualified for a role".

Affirmative action was first created from Executive Order 10925, which was signed by President John F Kennedy on 6 March 1961 and required that government employers "not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, creed, color, or national origin" and "take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin".

Affirmative action was extended to women by Executive Order 11375 which amended Executive Order 11246 on 13 October 1967, by adding "sex" to the list of protected categories.

Affirmative action has been the subject of numerous court cases, and has been questioned upon its constitutional legitimacy.

Affirmative action is provided for under section 73 of the Human Rights Act 1993 and section 19 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990.

However, as long as such Affirmative action is needed to correct discrimination, in fact, it is a case of legitimate differentiation under the Covenant.

Principle of affirmative action is to promote societal equality through the preferential treatment of socioeconomically disadvantaged people.

Historically and internationally, support for affirmative action has sought to achieve a range of goals: bridging inequalities in employment and pay; increasing access to education; enriching state, institutional, and professional leadership with the full spectrum of society; redressing apparent past wrongs, harms, or hindrances, in particular addressing the apparent social imbalance left in the wake of slavery and slave laws.

However, a slight majority of Americans do believe that affirmative action goes beyond ensuring access and goes into the realm of preferential treatment.

Critics of affirmative action offer a variety of arguments as to why it is counterproductive or should be discontinued.

Some opponents of affirmative action argue that it is a form of reverse discrimination, that any effort to cure discrimination through affirmative action is wrong because it, in turn, is another form of discrimination.

Some argue that affirmative action policies create an opportunity for fraud, by encouraging non-preferred groups to designate themselves as members of preferred groups in order to take advantage of group preference policies.

Mismatching is the term given to the supposed negative effect that affirmative action has when it places a student into a college that is too difficult for them.

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