Preview

Affirmative Action: Regents V. Bakke (1978)

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
436 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Affirmative Action: Regents V. Bakke (1978)
1) Thesis statement:

Affirmative action is a necessary tool to address past discrimination, promote diversity, and ensure equal opportunities in education and employment, despite recent challenges.

2) Necessary Background Information:

Understanding President Kennedy's Executive Order 10925 in 1961 and legal rulings such as Regents v. Bakke (1978) is crucial to comprehending what surrounds this issue. Affirmative action stemmed from President Kennedy's Executive Order 10925 in 1961 and this executive order aimed to eliminate discrimination in employment practices “without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin (Professor Stone Lecture Slides).” It marked a significant step towards addressing systemic inequalities in the workforce, particularly for marginalized groups who faced discrimination and exclusion. Then following Executive Order 10925, one landmark case that shaped affirmative action policies in education was Regents v. Bakke in 1978 and in this case, the Supreme …show more content…
Furthermore, the Regents v. Bakke decision upheld the constitutionality of treating race as one consideration among several in admissions procedures, pointing out the value of diversity in learning environments and opposing the application of racial limits. Ultimately, affirmative action is still an important tool for advancing equality of opportunity and diversity, despite recent setbacks. The need to have measurable objectives for affirmative action programs was made clear by the Supreme Court's ruling in SFFA v. Harvard and SFFA v. UNC (2023), which also emphasized the importance of taking race into account as part of an entire admissions process (Professor Stone Class
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Annotated Bibliography: The Liberals Against Affirmative Action
    • 309 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Annotated Bibliography: The Liberals Against Affirmative Action

    This article sheds light on the last affirmative action case which was 10 years ago. The article goes into detail about the 13 page dissent that Justice Anthony M. Kennedy issued after the ruling. The article also talks about whether or not colleges should be allowed to take race into consideration so that they can have diverse classes.…

    • 309 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Case Study: Fisher II V. The University Of Texas
    • 2122 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Case Study: Fisher II V. The University Of Texas

    On June 23rd 2016, the judges of the supreme court gathered to analyze a challenge about the University of Texas of Austin’s race-conscious admissions program. This case, known as Fisher II v. The University of Texas, was brought about when senior Abigail Fisher applied to the University of Texas and did not get in. She was not accepted in the top ten percent program as well( a program in Texas Law stating that top ten percent students from all schools in Texas get automatic admission into UT Austin), and firmly believed that she had the academic status to get in. She implied that the fact that she was white and had a good financial status reduced her chances of admission into the university and that she was heavily racially discriminated.…

    • 2122 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Mgt 434 Affirmative Action Plan Paper
    • 1070 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Mgt 434 Affirmative Action Plan Paper

    In this paper, there will be a description of “the elements of affirmative action and how it applies to the public sector and private sector of employment” (Bennet-Alexander & Hartman, 2007). This paper will describe “how affirmative action interacts with Title VII requirements of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act” (Bennet-Alexander & Hartman, 2007). Other factors that this paper will address will be “what happens if employers do not meet the goals of the affirmative action plan, what employers are subject to affirmative action plans and why, and what do the affirmative action plans require employers to do.” (Bennet-Alexander &…

    • 1070 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Kennedy's Arguments Against Affirmative Action
    • 1268 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Kennedy's Arguments Against Affirmative Action

    One concept that continues to be a hot-button issue throughout America's history, as well as in present-day is affirmative action. Affirmative action, at its root base, is defined as the favoring of a group of people based on previous discrimination and disenfranchisement throughout history. Specifically, affirmative action plays an integral role in the admission of disadvantaged minorities into a vast number of schools, organizations, and occupations. Moreover, a new conflict has arisen regarding affirmative action: whether or not the criteria should shift from race, gender, and ethnicity, to class and poverty. From a non-minority's perspective on the controversial issue of affirmative action, one could make the argument that affirmative…

    • 1268 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Affirmative Action: The Black Civil Rights Movement
    • 197 Words
    • 1 Page

    Affirmative Action: The Black Civil Rights Movement

    The use of affirmative action, in the United States, is more detrimental and destructive to the lives of Black people than helpful and advantageous. As prescribed by the Black civil rights movement, affirmative action is defined as programs which are created to destroy racial barriers, enforce fair socioeconomic opportunities amongst the masses, and induce a communal sense of “positive” discrimination in favor of the states’ minorities (Affirmative Action). Additionally, these programs are most notably used in relations to employment and education and executed lawfully through the use of the United States’ Supreme Court. After the conclusion of American slavery and the Jim Crow Era, affirmative action was created, through President Kennedy’s…

    • 197 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Affirmative Action
    • 37361 Words
    • 150 Pages

    Affirmative Action

    II. What Should Replace Racial Affirmative Action in Higher Education? 11 III. Profiles of States in Which Affirmative Action in College Admissions Has Been Banned 26 Notes About the Authors…

    • 37361 Words
    • 150 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Brown V. Board Of Education Case
    • 1610 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Brown V. Board Of Education Case

    Considering diversity within the campus is an important factor for college boards across the country, the admission offices are prone to deny applicants of common, white ethnicity if an applicant of the same, or lessened, qualifications, but who obtains a more diverse ethnicity. Although this practice may seem to be in favor with what the Brown v. Board of Education desired to accomplish, it is reasonable to question if the importance of diversity over the best applicants has taken things far beyond the extent of equal opportunity to education. More specifically, the University of California at Davis (a medical program) has a regular admission program and a special admission program. Most students fall under the regular admission program and have to meet certain requirements such as above a 2.5 GPA. However, the special admission program accepts the applicants of the minority group and have been found to be disadvantaged through the education system in the past. Where the unfairness comes up is that the “Special candidates… did not have to meet the 2.5 grade point cutoff and were not ranked against candidates in the general admissions process” (Regents of University). With the standards of the minority applicants straying from the standards of the majority applicants, the inequitability of the college admission process has…

    • 1610 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Best Essays

    Affirmative Inaction: Colored College Admissions
    • 2888 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Affirmative Inaction: Colored College Admissions

    “President Kennedy, as a way to fight discrimination, first coined the term Affirmative Action in 1961. Later on President Johnson employed Affirmative Action as a means of “a more profound stage of the battle for civil rights . . . not just equality as a right and a theory, but equality as a fact and result”” (“Background on Affirmative Action.”). Over the past few decades Affirmative Action has grown out of where it originated from and been altered to the extent where it has lost touch with its original intent. A prime example of the misuse of Affirmative Action can be seen in the college admissions process. The arguments against Affirmative Action fall into two categories. First Affirmative Action is immoral and causes individuals to act in an immoral manner, and second, rather than positive consequences Affirmative Action has a net negative consequence on individuals. The removal of Affirmative Action programs in colleges will lead to a colorblind admissions process that is fair to all races. The use of law enforcement could ensure that minorities are not discriminated against in the…

    • 2888 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Best Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Supreme Court Case Analysis
    • 580 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Supreme Court Case Analysis

    The Supreme Court was presented with the case of Fischer vs. The University of Texas where Abigail Fisher was suing the University for discrimination in their affirmative action based admissions process. The Supreme Court voted 7-1 and ruled to send the case back to the lower courts for further review and put off making any final decisions to change the U.S. policy on affirmative action, a “longstanding but fragile societal compromise, one that forbids quotas but allows using race as one factor among many in the admissions process” (Laptik). Both articles discussed in length the constitutionality of the race-based admissions process as well as explaining the Supreme Court’s position on the matter. The justices made statements that explained that the admissions programs must be subject to strict scrutiny where the it can be determined that classification based on gender, race and ethnicity occurs for the sole purpose of creating a diverse student population. The programs that use affirmative action in public universities are being scrutinized to ensure that their methods are a means to an end and serve to create diversity only. This issue will come before the Supreme Court again in the future and there will most likely be a more permanent ruling on the matter.…

    • 580 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Affirmative Action In Supreme Court Cases
    • 1457 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Affirmative Action In Supreme Court Cases

    Institutions that acknowledge race as one of the admission/ recruiting factors makes it harder for white people to get accepted. There have been cases where white students sued against their universities because they felt that they were denied admission because of their race. The most known cases are Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger where Caucasian students disputed the University of Michigan's Race to undergraduate and law school program. These cases were significant in the revision of affirmative action policies. The cases allowed the Supreme Court to question the constitutionality of such affirmative admission policies. Similarly, Abigail Fisher claimed that she was declined admission to the University of Texas because of her race. Ms. Fisher also suggested that such affirmative action laws are not by the 14th amendment which pledges equal protection for all. Moreover, the prejudices evoked by positive discrimination policies makes white people for what their ancestors did in the past. Companies or universities must often discriminate against white people because of affirmative action laws to integrate other racial groups, and that’s unfair. As Chelsea Hoffman puts it, indeed Affirmative action should be considered a "dangerous double standard" that discriminates one over…

    • 1457 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Why Affirmative Action Is Wrong
    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Why Affirmative Action Is Wrong

    The affirmative of action was first introduced by President John F Kennedy, but was later signed by President Johnson in July 2nd, 1964. Affirmative action is an action for institutes to encourage diversity among their pools of people, by hiring people that have historically been kept out. The affirmative action has created many job opportunities for people who were excluded and would probably have never got those jobs if it was not for the affirmative action. Stephen Henderson, who wrote “I am Affirmative Action” in the Detroit Press, and later USA Today, is an example of how the affirmative action can change some one’s life forever. In Henderson’s article, it was mentioned that the current rate of African American students in the University of Michigan is only 5 percent (Henderson) of the total population, and was barley doubled that percentage when the affirmative action was in its peak.…

    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Discrimination During The 1960's
    • 1310 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Discrimination During The 1960's

    Introduction During the 1960’s, there was a significant disparity between the amount of minority and female representation in the workforce versus the amount in the American population. In an attempt to correct this disparity, President John F. Kennedy enacts Executive Order 10925 which causes for an aggressive hiring of minorities by the federal government (Chrisman, 2013). Consequently, over-time, the civil rights movement as well as current laws and Supreme Court decisions greatly expand the idea of affirmative action well beyond the idea of what President Kennedy had envisioned it to be. For the minorities of America, affirmative action came to be known as a struggle against racism and racist practices (Chrisman, 2013).…

    • 1310 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Judicial Power And Activism Paper
    • 928 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Judicial Power And Activism Paper

    This is definitely a big issue in making judicial rulings with constitutionality involved and especially the continued existence of separation of powers. Affirmative action is a policy in place often used by educational intuitions as well as employers with the intent of giving preference or equal access to employment and or education to members in certain minority groups deemed to have or had been discriminated against (ex. African-Americans, Hispanics, Women). This policy was in place with the enactment of Executive Order 10925, by President John F. Kennedy March 6,…

    • 928 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Affirmative Action In America
    • 1385 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Affirmative Action In America

    Affirmative action is a controversial topic topic, especially in American society. Affirmative action is an active effort to improve the employment or education opportunities of members of minority groups and women. It also means a similar effort to promote the rights of other disadvantaged persons. In America, affirmative action is for a disadvantaged group to have equal opportunities, regardless of: race, religion/creed, sex, national origin, and disability (OFCCP). Many surround the words affirmative action around race, but socioeconomic status, gender, and various other background characteristics play a role. These factors and more especially in the realm of education. Affirmative action is beneficial due to its history and who it affects.…

    • 1385 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Affirmative Action in the United States
    • 1074 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Affirmative Action in the United States

    Jamie DuvaMgt 434Affirmative Action Paper As we know by now affirmative action is an effort to improve the employment and educational opportunities of women and members of minority groups through preferential treatment in job hiring, college admissions, the awarding of government contracts, and the allocation of other social benefits. First undertaken at the federal level following passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, affirmative action was designed to counteract the lingering effects of generations of past discrimination. The main criteria for inclusion in affirmative action programs are race, sex, ethnic origin, religion, disability, and age. The definition is a broad terminology and the word can be used in a variety of many affirmative action discrimination cases. In the definition in does not state affirmative action laws for Caucasian males and disabled people; it is rare to see the Caucasian male in affirmative action cases but they do occur from time to time. So across the board everyone is protected under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Affirmative action programs are intended to positively protect the private and public sector employees. To generalize if the company has 50 or more employees and the income is 50,000 or more, the employees are covered by the affirmative action right and the Civil Rights Law of 1964. There are many differences from the private and public sectors; there are many different laws that protect the two different sectors but, the two sectors employees are covered. Still the laws differ, if an employer has the minimum employee requirement the employee will have many benefits; the company will become diverse and well respected throughout the company, it will ease the mind of the employees who work there from discrimination, it can open doors to many diverse and cultural ideas, the company can inspire many upcoming companies, etc. Many affirmative action programs are put into place to protect everyone from any…

    • 1074 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More