Affirmative Action Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Affirmative Action - Term Paper Example The following will explore job discrimination with an eye to how this form of discrimination affects certain groups of people in the labor market and how society has attempted to protect these people from discrimination. Taking a controversial approach to minority set aside programs, this essay will then persuasively argue that since these programs promote discrimination themselves, they are inherently defeatist and promote the same type of behavior that they try to eradicate. We now begin with an overview of the reasons for minority set aside programs – also called affirmative action – and this will follow with a concise rebuttal of the needs for such programs. We will explore the unintended consequences of affirmative action and begin with a concise exploration of the issue of discrimination in the work place. Discrimination in the workforce affects people from all walks of life. Accordingly, the employment opportunities of half of our population are hindered by latent and overt sexism in the offices of America. Affirmative action seeks to resolve issues of inequality and discrimination faced by select groups. The Civil Rights Act states emphatically that discrimination based on sex, race or religion is prohibited and the EEOC guidelines for affirmative action ensures that key groups are given specific advantages due to the challenges they will face in society. For example, it is well known that women in America earn substantially less than their male counterparts. The Equal Pay Act (EPA) of 1963 was established more than four decades ago to protect men and women who perform the same tasks from wage-based discrimination. Sexism is an unfortunate aspect of our modern society but the EPA seeks to combat it through positive legislation aimed at correcting the pay discrepancy between men and women in the labor force. Older workers also face a variety of impediments to their active inclusion in the labor force and the Age Discrimination in