Arguments Against Affirmative Action

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Introduction to Affirmative Action Affirmative Action Laws are defined as “those in which an institution or organization actively engages in efforts to improve opportunities for historically excluded groups in American society” (NCSL). In America, Affirmative Action laws emerged as a result of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. Affirmative Action laws were intended to give opportunities to minority groups who were previously repressed. The Affirmative Action was first used by President Kennedy in 1961 in an executive order that directed government contractors to take “affirmative action to ensure that “affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their …show more content…
Board of Education decision in 1954 which outlawed school segregation and also the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which increased prospects for African American. However, in 1965, only five percent of undergraduate students and even less in medical and law students, were African American. Thus, an executive order was established by President Lyndon B Johnson to increase the amount of minorities being employed. As a result, education systems established policies that were in place to fill the gap in educational opportunities for minorities. There are both critics and advocates of affirmative action. Lawsuits have been made in American School systems arguing against affirmative action laws. However, in Brazil, Affirmative Action Laws are just beginning to make their way into the country and new laws have been …show more content…
The first case is Grutter v. Bollinger in which Barbara Grutter, who is white, sued the University of Michigan on the grounds that her position in their law school was given to minority students that had scored lower on their entrance exams. Initially Grutter won her case in the district court but it was overturned in the federal court. Finally in 2003 the Supreme Court narrowly ruled in favor of the University of Michigan because they had not used racial quotas but used race along with several other factors in making admission decisions to help bring about more diversity in the student population (McBride: Grutter 2006). Gratz v. Bollinger is the second case against filed against the University of Michigan. It was directed toward the affirmative action policy used in undergraduate admissions. Students were guaranteed admission if they scored 100 points on a 150 point scale. Racial minority groups and students from schools in lower socioeconomic neighborhoods were give an automatic 20 points extra on their assessment. This practice was deemed unconstitutional according to the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment (McBride: Grutter 2006). To give minorities the 20 points regardless of individual circumstances is illegal because it gives all minorities an unfair advantage over white students, which is discrimination. Taking several factors, including
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