For example, athletes, children of alumni, California residents, and low-income students are a few of the categories of students that benefit from affirmative action considerations in education. The origins of affirmative action are intricately linked to discrimination in the United States. The following is a brief outline of this history. 1940s: President Roosevelt signed an order making discrimination illegal in defense contracting. 1954: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that "separate but equal" facilities on the basis of race were unconstitutionally discriminatory. 1964: Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibiting discrimination based on race, sex, national origin and religion in employment and education. 1965: President Lyndon Johnson signed an executive order requiring federal contractors to undertake affirmative action to increase the number of minorities they employed. 1969: Department of Labor hearings exposed continued widespread racial discrimination in the construction agency. In response, President Richard Nixon developed the concept of using "goals and timetables" to measure the progress federal construction companies were making in increasing the number of minorities on their payro

Yeager, Melanie ?FAMU-Grad Regent Backs Bush Plan? Tallahassee Democrat 8 February 200: B1

I continue to have mixed feelings in regards to supporting or not supporting affirmative action. I look at it as, simply and correctly recognizing the historical and consistent biases against women and minorities that have permeated every system in our white-male-dominated America. The result over time has been not only the continued denial of access, but also the skills and resources to help women and minorities become independently competitive. Nevertheless, I also look at, and believe that; affirmative action has become more of an entitlement than an opportunity. So, to me the question still remains, what do we do???

Jones, Richard L. ?Jeb Bush?s One Florida Plan Gets National Attention.? Tallahassee Democrat 26 December 1999: A15

Connerly?s proposed measure seeks to amend Florida?s Constitution to ban preferences based on race and gender in state and local government contracts and in public university admissions.