"positive Action" Policy And Practice

Affirmative action is a policy solving problems related to race, gender and class in the United States, which was implemented through executive orders of US presidents. Affirmative action has been implemented in the US for more than50years so far.The United States is a multi-racial country with the whites of English birth or ancestry living in the US as-its majorities and Africa-American, Hispanics, Asia-Americans as its minorities. Due to historical reasons, American minorities experienced racial discrimination in all fields. Africa-Americans fought against the racism of the dominant Caucasoid population by Civil Rights Movement and achieved great success in1960s. The Federal government was forced to implement affirmative action aiming to overcome the problems of historical racial discrimination against blacks and gave them equal employment, education or federal government contracting opportunity. However, in fact, it is difficult to realize the so-called justice between American minorities and whites since they are not on reasonably equal footing. Therefore, affirmative action became a compensatory policy for minorities, women and other disadvantage groups, affording them preferential treatments in respect of education, employment etc. Beginning from mid-late1960s, both Democratic and Republican presidents amplified and expanded affirmative action with new legislations, executive orders or other statutes. In fact, affirmative action has become an important means for American Federal government to solve ethnic conflicts and problems.For half a century, affirmative action policy has played an active role on American society, but there still remain some problems of it. As a social policy, affirmative action policy was implemented by the Federal government, achieving some substantial achievements, especially in education and employment. Many of minorities and women are recruited in industries which had traditionally been occupied by the white man and well-educated. Undoubtedly, affirmative action has played a positive role in easing racial tensions and helping the vulnerables out of woods. Affirmative action encourages and promotes diversity characterized by the current globalization and social development. But at the same time, as a policy, affirmative action has itself some disadvantages. Some people dissented about it immediately after it was implemented. It is not real equality. It is only a superficial preferential treatment that replaced the previous legitimate inequalities. It only solved some superficial problems but can not fundamentally solve the problems of racial conflicts. Affirmative action has been controversial for fifty years. The debate of whether abolishing affirmative action or not has been intense from mid-1980s. And some states have already abolished affirmative action based on race and gender in some ways since mid-1990s. At the turn of the20th century, affirmative action has become very precarious. Entering the21st century, affirmative action is no longer the main consideration for many people. However, after the economic crisis in2008, affirmative action begins again to draw more and more attention since there are many new affirmative action cases in courts. Affirmative action has been the most controversial and divisive issue in America, but there is no explicit official explanation so far. In a word, as a great fruit of Civil Rights movement in1960s, affirmative action has existed more than half centuries. Although affirmative action is controversial, it is impossible to be abolished easily.Studying affirmative action in American has representativeness of ethnic policy to a certain extent. Although the affirmative action could not completely solve the social problems in America, but as the part of efforts which the Federal government took to eradicate racial discrimination, it did not deviate from the country's principles of unity and stability. Its basic idea is to overcome the historical discrimination against women and minorities, to help them change the inferior positions in all aspects more quickly and improve their competitive ability. Its essence is, with government intervention, to offer everyone equal opportunity, to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor, and to maintain fairness and justice. And it creates conditions for the stable and harmonious society. Studying affirmative action in American has a certain significance of criticism and reference that deepen our understanding and perception of China's ethnic problems. It provides us with valuable revelation in the course of formulating and implementing our ethnic policies.