Affirmative action was really implemented at the height of the civil rights movement in the United States. Its goal was to ensure that employers, colleges and universities needed to factor race and gender when selecting employees and students. "Under affirmative action there would be an active effort to make sure that the workplace and the university included people of all races and both sexes."(Hanmer 8). Prior to this in the United States, opportunity did not exist for all. Many people were denied p

Affirmative action was to change the way employers hired. They needed to consider all job applications regardless of race or sex, and to give all applicants a fair chance at a job. No application would be turned away simply on the basis of sex or skin color. Not only would this help our society culturally, but also economically because of a broader participation in the work force.

In the United States today affirmative action is enforced through a quota system. Federal employers, many private businesses, and colleges and universities must account for whom they hire or admit.

Most Americans have a pretty definite opinion on affirmative action. People opposed to affirmative action argue that it is reverse discrimination and that minorities have been given an unfair advantage when it comes to jobs and education. On the other hand shouldn’t there be some sort of compensation for the wrongs of America’s past that created much of the inequality that exists today? Both arguments are compelling.

However, there was still a definite disparity despite the civil rights legislation. Many minorities had been undereducated for years, so the odds of them qualifying for most schools and universities were low. Also getting a job as a skilled laborer was nearly impossible. "Unions of skilled workers had long reserved membership to sons, grandsons and nephews of members." (Hamner 44). Many believed something had to be done to compensate for that. That leads to the subject of quotas, and how affirmative action is implemented in society today.

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