Support for Affirmative Action

Why do we need to support Affirmative Action?

Was it designed to end the discrimination?

Support for Affirmative Action was designed to end the discrimination of people based on race and nationality. It is a way to give non-whites an opportunity to have decent jobs and add to the diversity of any workplace.

Diversity is desirable, but without a concerted effort to attract students/workers from different identity groups, higher education communities and corporations would not be very diverse. In a diverse setting, one can grow from interacting with people from different backgrounds by learning about their cultures and experiences. Knowing this helps eliminate stereotypes. In classrooms and workplaces with people from different identity groups, students and faculty and corporations can learn new perspectives from each other. For people who have been challenged in their lives (e.g. by economic hardship or by attending schools with few resources), affirmative action provides educational opportunities and a chance to prove that they can achieve. Racial and sexual barriers still exist in our society: affirmative action attempts to create a level playing field to help people compensate for that fact. Overall, people of color are exceptional assets to universities, colleges, and employers.