2007 - 1st Place Essay Contest Winner: John E. Linder School: Pocono Mountain East High School Right, 2nd Place Winner: Kevin Conroy Pocono Mountain East High School Left, Third Place Winner:Hanna Farda Notre Dame High School Should Affirmative Action Policies, Which Give Preferential Treatment Based on Minority Status, Be Eliminated? The battle of Civil Rights did not end when Linda Brown won her case against the Board of Education in Topeka, Kansas and ended segregation in schools. It did not end in the '60s after Martin Luther King Jr. fought and ultimately died for civil liberties. It did not end when President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act in 1964. The war for Civil Rights still wages today but has stalled on the front of affirmative action. On June 4, 1965, President Johnson stated, "[Affirmative Action] is the next and more profound stage of the battle of Civil Rights! We seek… not just equality as a right and a theory, but equality as a fact and a result…" Yet no battle is a complete victory. There will always be casualties and there will always be repercussions. Now a conflict typically ends in a victory or a defeat. Affirmative action has resulted in neither a victory nor a loss, yet it is time for this particular battle to finally end. Injustices have been its casualties. Affirmative action was a noble attempt to rid America of discrimination, but the battlefield is too vast and devastating. The ends do not justify the means. Affirmative action should be eliminated, with other plans set in its place to make sure that no preferential treatment is given to anyone and every American has equal and fair opportunities. Affirmative action is a plan that was first designed by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, and then put into action by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965. It was a means to stop the discrimination in American workplaces. In an attempt to do so, affirmative action allowed the "bar" to be lowered for minorities and women to give them an advantage on the competition for jobs and for schools. Many Americans agree with this plan. Many, however, do not. Ironically, the dissenters are often those who affirmative action sought to help. America's Civil Rights war has just moved and stalled on this well-intended plan. Affirmative action was designed to be the solution to the Civil Rights conflict, but is not all that it is cracked-up-to-be. Affirmative action had many problems even in the 1970's, such as reverse discrimination, which became the main issue in '78 with the introduction of the famous Bakke v. University of California case. Allan Bakke sued the University. Because of affirmative action, he was not given acceptance into the school. A minority was given the seat, even though he did not have the qualifications that Bakke had. Bakke won his case. The Supreme Court upheld laws that prohibit using quotas to allow minorities from taking jobs or schooling away from white members. Those quotas ended contradistinguishing and allowed whites to lose their jobs to minorities with fewer qualifications just to hit a target number. Many such cases continued to hit the Supreme Court and altered the war on Civil Rights forever. The battle has become a stalemate on the affirmative action front. Affirmative action is an issue that now divides our country. The flaws of affirmative action are so immense that the courts have yet to address them all. Affirmative action does not give fair and equal opportunity to all Americans; it gave, and still gives the "upper-hand" to the minorities instead of treating them with the equality they fought so hard for. It should be changed or replaced so that minorities are given the same opportunities that the all of Americans should have. Assure all Americans the education they need, but don't give them special treatment. Affirmative action should be leveling the "playing field" and not make it a one sided battle. In 1994, a study showed that women were making 72% of what white men made. In 1992, black men with professional degrees earned only 79% of what white men were making. Affirmative action tried to eradicate the separation of wages and give everyone the same amount of pay. The study showed that fewer white women and black men ascended to senior levels of authority in their jobs than white men. Promotions should not be just for the white men, but to anyone who is most competent. Affirmative action attempted to give those minorities an advantage in an attempt to curb racist and sexist attitudes. For America to be a perfect nation without any discrimination and in equality, this long gruesome battle must end now in order to eventually declare a victory. The Courts are struggling to find a fair balance in this field of affirmative action. In 1997, California ended all forms of affirmative action. Then, in 1998, Washington became the second to end affirmative action. On the other hand, the Supreme Court has stood by its decision that affirmative action is constitutional, such as the case of Gratz v. Bollinger in 2000, and Grutter v. Bollinger in 2001. In both cases, the University of Michigan has won, and the Supreme Court upheld affirmative action and allowed minorities the preference to try to achieve a diverse population. This war of interpreting affirmative action does not show signs of ending. When one side scores a victory, the other seems to come back with a later victory. For some people, racist beliefs and decisions are not easy to overcome, but for America to promote equality, it must offer opportunities to all of its citizens and to those who seek to become United States citizens. The Civil Rights war has been going on for centuries and will not stop until America can ensure its citizens equality. Affirmative action must be completely eliminated. It is not the answer to America's pleas for freedom from discrimination. When affirmative action is abolished, America can continue its quest to become what it was created to be: a truly free nation. Works Cited "Affirmative Action: Who Benefits." APA Online. 20 Mar. 2007 http://www.apa.org/ Brunner, Borgna. "Affirmative Action History: A History and Timeline of Affirmative Action." Infoplease. 2006 http://www.infoplease.com Brunner, Borgna and Haney, Elisa. "Civil Rights Movement Timeline: Milestones in the modern Civil Rights movement." Infoplease. 2006 http://www.infoplease.com