Affirmative Action

On January 20th, Barrack Hussein Obama became the first African-American to become a U.S. President. The United States of America have come a long way in the past 233 years. He received a large margin of the votes and there was no doubt that he won by a landslide. It showed that this country has stopped judging people by the color of their skin. So is Affirmative Action still needed?

Affirmative Action refers to policies that take gender, race, or ethnicity in an attempt to promote equal opportunity and redress disadvantages due to discrimination. These policies have been under scrutiny since the day they were passed. If everyone is supposed to be equal then isn’t this discrimination for everyone that doesn’t get assistance under Affirmative Action? Or is it just another form of discrimination by saying that minorities couldn’t get jobs without our help?

When this policy was enacted it was more likely that minorities didn’t have the same chances at receiving a quality education. Nowadays it is more likely that everyone has the same chance at receiving an education. In 1973, there weren’t many businesses that were owned by minorities like there is now. When you go into businesses today it isn’t unusual to see a diverse work crew. If one of the goals of Affirmative Action was to “level the playing field” then it seems as if that goal has been reached. After 35 years it is time to end this outdated policy.