An Argumentative Essay About Affirmative Action

Affirmative Action
Name
Institution
Affirmative Action
According to Erman & Walton (2014), affirmative action refers to vigorous actions undertaken by the federal government to ensure that qualified people from minority groups are incorporated into jobs to which have been excluded from previously. It also involves securing slots for students from the minority groups in the best learning institutions in the land. To minority groups, affirmative action brings the light of equality, but it has elicited hot debate as to whether it should be upheld or uprooted. However, affirmative action is good because will improve the well-being and economy of Americans, remove stereotyping and helps in levelling the playground for all races.
Background
Affirmative action is a product of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. It was intended to offer equal opportunities to the people from minority groups and women in both employment and education. President Kennedy became the first president of America to issue an executive order to the employers and educationists to ensure that minority groups were not discriminated when they applied for jobs or to study in any institution (Vaughn, 2015). Affirmative action initially focused on creating employment opportunities for the African Americans. It was followed by the colleges and universities which began to absorb the African American students to their institutions which saw an increase in enrolment rates for minority groups in higher learning institutions. However, enrolment rate for white students to college remains slightly higher than for the African Americans and Hispanics (Erman, 2014). According to a recent report on enrolment rates (2011), 69% of the whites easily enrolled for college while 65% of African Americans enrolled in college and 63% for the Hispanics (Erman, 2014). This statistics shows that affirmative action has been fruitful in bridging the gap that existed in admission rates for whites and minority groups during early 1900. It should, therefore, be upheld.
Affirmative action helps in improving the well-being of the minority groups which contributes to the growth of the economy of the country. Affirmative action enables the minority groups to acquire quality education which helps them qualify for higher paying jobs and thus improve their incomes, well-being and uplift the living standards which translate to improvement in the economy at large (Bačlija & Grabner, 2014). For example, through affirmative action, women and minority groups such as Latinos are enabled to go further in education than they could and will be absorbed in the labor force thus contributing to the GDP of the country. Higher GDP and better living standards will translate to growth and improvement of the economy. Thus, affirmative action will have enhanced growth of the economy through empowering minority groups and women.
Besides, affirmative action will inject the minority groups into the mainstream of the society encouraging interaction with majority groups in the workplace and learning institutions which will diminish the racial prejudices and stigmas thus eliminating stereotyping among minorities of different races and women. Stereotypes diminish as people of different races and se...