Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • Free Essays • My Term Papers • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Political Science Affirmative Action Affirmative Action Affirmative action has been the federal governments attempt to ensure every American a chance at a good job and financial security. Since it's inception, it has been greatly debated and modified to meet the changing times. Advocates of affirmative action say women and minorities deserve government-backed preferential treatment because gains in the workplace still lag behind those of white males. Critics, on the other hand, say preferential privileges have outlived their usefulness, create a rift in race relations and lead to the unfair treatment of whites. The state of Florida, along with California, has been a leader in new affirmative action policy. Last week, governor Jeb Bush proposed banning all race-based affirmative action in Florida schools and government contracting(Bush). Under his package, any student who finishes in the top 20 percent of his or her high school class will be admitted to the state university system. According to Florida officials, at least 400 more minority students would be eligible for admission under the Bush plan, and another 800 students could qualify if they took college-prep courses. This week, in an executive order, Gov. Jeb Bush has ended affirmative action in public contracting in 13 state agencies. The same order is expected to phase out affirmative action in state college admissions(Bush2). Florida may be on the verge of following California in abolishing affirmative action as a similar citizen's initiative is pending. Affirmative action as we know it began in 1941 with President Roosevelt, who banned racial discrimination by defense contractors, and created a committee to investigate complaints. In 1955 Rosa Parks refused to sit in a segregated section of a public bus that sparked the civil rights movement. In 1963, more than 200,000 people took part in a march on Washington, D.C. in the name of social equality where Martin Luther King delivered his famous speech "I Have a Dream." The Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned the segregation of public facilities and was used in court actions against racial discrimination in the workplace. In 1965, Lyndon B. Johnson issued Executive Order 11246 which required contractors doing business with the federal government to practice affirmative action: conscious and deliberate efforts to bring qualified minorities into jobs and educational opportunities from which they had been traditionally excluded. In 1970, Richard Nixon's Department of Labor required companies to create goals and timetables for the increased hiring of minorities. In 1971 affirmative action was extended to include women. In 1978, affirmative action came under attack when the U.S. Supreme Court voted on the Allan Bakke case, a white man who challenged a California medical school admission quota. The usage of quotas became illegal. In 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a case involving Richmond, Va., that the city's affirmative action remedy programs had to first prove a past record of discrimination against minorities and women. Also, contractors who could demonstrate they had tried but failed in their affirmative action efforts should not be denied government business. Cities and states scrambled to change the emphasis of their programs toward goals and away from mandates. In writing the majority opinion, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said statistical disparities fell short of proving specific acts of discrimination. She complained that an "amorphous claim that there has been discrimination in a particular industry cannot justify the use of an unyielding racial quota"(O'Conner). In 1992, Florida-based Publix Super Markets Inc. faced a public protest when a labor union and a consumer group objected to low numbers of minorities and women in management. Publix tried to counter the claims by pointing to employees such as Dwayne Jackson, 30, a produce manager in Casselberry, as an example of its commitment to minorities. In 1993, Orange County conducted a disparity study to comply with the new Supreme Court requirement. In 1994, a New York Times survey found that white men hold 43 percent of the jobs in the American work force; white women, 36 percent; black women, 11 percent; and black men, 10 percent. Still, opponents of affirmation action complained people of color were threatening their job security. In 1995, the federal Glass Ceiling Report concluded that barriers to equal justice exist because of "a perception of many white males that as a group they are losing the corporate game, losing control and losing opportunity"(Ceiling). In 1995, by one vote, the Supreme Court restricted federal affirmative action programs for minorities. Again writing for the court majority, O'Connor said federal programs can survive only if they serve "a compelling governmental interest" and are "narrowly tailored." O'Connor said the tough scrutiny the Supreme Court adopted in 1989 for state and local affirmative action programs now must be applied to federal efforts. The decision overturned key parts of high court rulings in 1980 and 1990 that upheld government programs for minorities. In 1997, California voters approve ending that state's affirmative action through Proposition 209. Within days, a federal judge overruled them. A California and Florida based corporation, Walt Disney World, conducted "snapshots" of different departments to see which were falling short of minorities or women. The company increased its minority-recruiting staff from one person to a team of four to boost the number of management-level job candidates. Orlando's T.G. Lee Foods Inc. settled the last of 19 discrimination lawsuits that the company had faced during the past few years. The final settlement brought to an end a protracted legal battle that divided many of the company's employees along racial lines. The suits accused T.G. Lee of maintaining a racially hostile workplace and denying blacks promotions. The plaintiffs said they endured racial slurs and graffiti. T.G. Lee maintained it did nothing wrong. The dairy has hired and promoted more minorities and launched a diversity-training program since the suits were filed. Later that year, California's affirmative action ban became law, sparking protests. Thousands streamed across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco to show disapproval of the law. Following California, John Barry of Orlando organized the Florida Civil Right Initiative, which would ban racial and gender preferences in state hiring, contracting and college admissions. A similar group, the Campaign for Florida's Future, came about in West Palm Beach. A coalition called Floridians Representing Equity and Equality emerged to protect affirmative action. Currently, Florida's black legislators are organizing an effort against Bush's plan to prohibit the admission of students to public universities based upon race. Last week, higher education leaders gave it preliminary approval. The Legislative Black Caucus plans to counter the proposal with an "equal opportunity" amendment on next Fall's ballot. In order to gain ballot access, 43 thousand signatures must be petitioned. The future of affirmative action is unclear. A 1997 poll conducted by Florida Voter found that 85% of Florida's citizens support the initiative to abolish job placement by race. Recent evidence shows that the original intent of the civil rights activists is not being met by placing "middle-class" blacks into jobs. Affirmative action has not solved the poverty of black neighborhoods, the 66% of all black babies born into single parent families, or the low number of blacks in higher education. The U.S. Supreme Court has shown that it is willing to grapple with racial issues and will continue to hand down policy to fit our changing times. Bibliography: Works Cited 1. Barry, John http://www.floridafamily.com/affaction.html#top 2. Bush, Jeb http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/991122/affirm.htm 3. Bush2, Jeb http://www.amcity.com/orlando/stories/1999/11/15/weekinbiz.html 4. Ceiling, Federal Glass http://cyberwerks.com/dataline/editorials/glssceil.html 5. O,Conner, Sandra Day http://www.floridafamily.com/history.html Word Count: 1260
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