Affirmative Action is a policy or a set of procedures that aims to improve the educational or employment opportunities of certain demographic groups that have been historically discriminated against or underrepresented in society . It gives limited preference to qualified groups based on criteria such as race , gender , ethnic origin , disability , and age . Affirmative action was initiated by the U . S . government in the 1960s as a remedy to the effects of long-standing discrimination . Affirmative action is sometimes called Positive Discrimination .
Program Success 2 Holiday 2022
“ We should not need # AffirmativeAction . But we do . Because racism , particularly anti- Black racism , persists in our systems , policies , and institutions .
Until we change that , decision-makers must be made to make equitable decisions . The # SupremeCourt ruling prevents that mandate .
- Bernice King
I got up early on the Saturday morning that the test was to be administered , and I took multiple buses to a stop near the school . With no preparation and little sleep , I did not fare well . In fact , I was surprised and deeply embarrassed by my poor results . I could not understand why white classmates , many of whom had grades that did not match mine in college prep classes we shared , had performed so much better . As those white students prepared to enroll at USC , Clemson or the College of Charleston , I enlisted in the Navy . But I did not give up on my Carolina dream .
The naval program I signed up for offered SAT prep and the opportunity to attend a college or university before serving four years as an officer . Alas , that path closed when a medical issue forced me to make a tough choice : remain enlisted in the Navy or leave the military and try to get into a college or university - preferably my beloved University of South Carolina .
I had a little SAT prep in the Navy program and had re-taken the test . My score was 50 points higher than it had been when I took it blind in high school . It was still far below the scores a Navy program counselor told me would be expected for incoming students at Carolina .
That counselor , however , encouraged me to apply anyway . I cried when I got accepted . Rather than accept plane fare back to South Carolina upon separation , I took its dollar value and rode the bus from San Diego back to Charleston , saving the rest to help me afford tuition .
I don ’ t know that any specific affirmative action program cleared my path to the University of South Carolina . I assume the university did what schools were empowered to do then : consider all of a student ’ s background , including their course work , their test scores , and their race .
I did not spend time on campus worrying about what others thought of my place there . Some of my old high school classmates - including some who had better SAT scores - dropped out along the way to graduation .
Whereas I focused on the task at hand , made the Dean ’ s List multiple times , and became editor of the university newspaper before embarking on what has now been a 33- year career in journalism .
Contrary to what the Supreme Court has decreed , affirmative action in college admissions is not some handout that discredits students . It ’ s an acknowledgment that , in the real world , Black students don ’ t have the same educational and financial opportunities as white students , and that sometimes means their potential isn ’ t evident in test scores .
Unfortunately , the Court has decided it prefers the gauzy confines of the Land of Make-Believe , where everything is equal and fair and there was never slavery , Jim Crow , or systemic racism . It just so happens that , in that world , those who already have get to keep - and those who don ’ t are locked out .
Affirmative Action is a policy or a set of procedures that aims to improve the educational or employment opportunities of certain demographic groups that have been historically discriminated against or underrepresented in society . It gives limited preference to qualified groups based on criteria such as race , gender , ethnic origin , disability , and age . Affirmative action was initiated by the U . S . government in the 1960s as a remedy to the effects of long-standing discrimination . Affirmative action is sometimes called Positive Discrimination .