Affirmative Action

At the heart of the affirmative action research paper lies the debate on the issue of race. Although many Americans will not consciously admit that affirmative actions laws were instituted to help advance minorities (especially African Americans), the reality is that American history, up to and including the debate over affirmative action, has always contended the topic of race. Your education research paper must address the issue of race in affirmative action. Paper Masters can compose a custom written research paper on affirmative action that follows your guidelines.

Affirmative Action and the Supreme Court

Race has invariably been an extensive part of American history. However, affirmative action has not. Although many authors argue that the seeds of affirmative action began with the Supreme Court case of Brown v. The Board of Education (1954), in which the Supreme Court declared that segregated educational facilities were inherently unequal and a violation of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, most supporters of Affirmative Action agree that the true case defining the affirmative action debate began with the case of Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978). In this landmark decision, the Supreme Court of California imposed limitations on the quotas for affirmative action to ensure that enforcing affirmative action policies did not come at the expense of "reverse discrimination." This ruling initiated a debate about the "fairness" of affirmative action, that is still as vigorously debated today as it was in 1978.

Affirmative Action and the Brown Decision

Although affirmative action research has come to the forefront of public and political debate over the past 25 years, when the idea was first initiated, it was not met with such an extensive amount of criticism. In fact after the decision in Brown, many Americans believe that more had to be done to advance the civil rights of minorities. In an attempt appease political constituents, President John F Kennedy responded by signing Executive Order 10925 creating the Presidential Commission on Equal Opportunity. This Order mandated that federal contractors had to take "affirmative action" to ensure that there be no discrimination by the following:

• Race
• Creed
• Color
• National origin

Although Kennedy's legislation set the precedent for "affirmative action," because it only extended to federal contractors, the Order was somewhat limited in its scope and enforceability.