What does Affirmative Action mean?

Definitions for Affirmative Action
af·fir·ma·tive ac·tion

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word Affirmative Action.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. affirmative actionnoun

    a policy designed to redress past discrimination against women and minority groups through measures to improve their economic and educational opportunities

    "affirmative action has been extremely controversial and was challenged in 1978 in the Bakke decision"

GCIDE

  1. affirmative actionnoun

    a policy of making active efforts to improve the employment or educational opportunities available to members of minority groups or women; -- achieved by employers or schools by using various techniques, but excluding the use of simple quotas or outright discrimination against white males. affirmative action is required by law for certain employers in the United States.

Wiktionary

  1. affirmative actionnoun

    A policy or program providing advantages for people of a minority group who are seen to have traditionally been discriminated against, with the aim of creating a more egalitarian society through preferential access to education, employment, health care, social welfare, etc.

Wikipedia

  1. Affirmative action

    Affirmative action, also known as positive discrimination, involves sets of policies and practices within a government or organization seeking to include particular groups based on their gender, race, sexuality, creed or nationality in areas in which such groups are underrepresented — such as education and employment. Historically and internationally, support for affirmative action has sought to achieve goals such as bridging inequalities in employment and pay, increasing access to education, promoting diversity, and redressing apparent past wrongs, harms, or hindrances. The nature of affirmative-action policies varies from region to region and exists on a spectrum from a hard quota to merely targeting encouragement for increased participation. Some countries use a quota system, reserving a certain percentage of government jobs, political positions, and school vacancies for members of a certain group; an example of this is the reservation system in India. In some other jurisdictions where quotas are not used, minority-group members are given preference or special consideration in selection processes. In the United States, affirmative action in employment and education has been the subject of legal and political controversy. In 2003, the Supreme Court of the United States, in Grutter v. Bollinger, held that the University of Michigan Law School could consider race as a plus-factor when evaluating applicants holistically and maintained the prohibition on the use of quotas.In the United Kingdom, hiring someone simply because of their protected-group status, without regard to their performance, is illegal. However, the law in the United Kingdom does allow for membership in a protected and disadvantaged group to be considered in hiring and promotion when the group is under-represented in a given area and if the candidates are of equal merit (in which case membership in a disadvantaged group can become a "tie-breaker"). An alternative approach, common in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe, is positive action. Under this approach, the focus tends to be on ensuring equal opportunity and, for example, targeted advertising campaigns to encourage ethnic minority candidates to join police forces. This is often described as being "color blind", although the social viability of that concept is heavily contested by certain elements in the United States.In the United States, affirmative action is controversial and public opinion on the subject is divided. Supporters of affirmative action argue that it promotes equality and representation for groups which are socio-economically disadvantaged or have faced historical discrimination or oppression. Opponents of affirmative action have argued that it is a form of reverse discrimination, that it tends to benefit the most privileged within minority groups at the expense of the least fortunate within majority groups, or that—when applied to universities—it can hinder minority students by placing them in courses too difficult for them.

Wikidata

  1. Affirmative action

    Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, sex, or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group "in areas of employment, education, and business".

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of Affirmative Action in Chaldean Numerology is: 8

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of Affirmative Action in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

Examples of Affirmative Action in a Sentence

  1. Keith Ellison:

    However, Ellison’s past associations and commentsmay trouble more moderate voters. Ellison’s 2006 run for Keith Ellison seat was plunged into controversy after the conservative PowerLineBlog.com found he had once identified with Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam and in 1998 was referring to himself as Keith X Ellison and Keith Ellison-Muhammed. The Washington Post reported that Keith Ellison had defended Farrakhan against accusations of anti-Semitism in 1989 and in 1990 had called affirmative action a sneaky form of compensation for slavery, calling instead for reparations. When the controversy erupted in 2006, Keith Ellison acknowledged Keith Ellison had worked with the group, but only for 18 months to help organize Farrakhan's 1995 Million Man March. Keith Ellison distanced Keith Ellison from both Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam, and said Keith Ellison had n’t scruitinized the group's anti-Semitic positions appropriately. They were and are anti-Semitic, and I should have come to that conclusion earlier than I did, Keith Ellison said. Yet it is n’t the only controversy for Keith Ellison. In 2007, Keith Ellison made a comparison between Bush and 9/11 to Hitler and the 1933 Reichstag fire. 9/11 is the juggernaut in American history and it allows... it's almost like, you know, the Reichstag fire, after the Reichstag was burned, they blamed the Communists for it, and it put the leader of that country [ Hitler ] in a position where he could basically have authority to do whatever he wanted. He later clarified that he did indeed believe that Usama bin Laden was responsible for the terror attacks. But it was n’t the only controversy for Ellison in 2007, as he also backed a movement to impeach then-Vice President Dick Cheney over his alleged fabrication of intelligence about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. However, Brad Bannon believes that Ellison’s Muslim heritage could be a boost not a burden, especially in light of Trump’s elevation Sunday of controversial Breitbart boss Steve Bannon to chief strategist.

  2. Harrison Chen:

    Everyone's looking for the same story, they don't really care what Some Asian American academic activists have to say. It's always this : Asian kid, high test scores, mad Some Asian American academic activists didn't get in, i'm interested in how affirmative action is portrayed, because it's so very dishonest.

  3. Grace Fosu:

    [ Ghana ] has made some strides with regard to women's rights in some areas but has not done very well in other areas... women's role in public life is abysmal with attempts to get an affirmative action law in place not gone far.

  4. Lauren Davenport:

    Racial identification is significant for the implementation of affirmative action, the drawing of legislative districts, and the enforcement of anti-discrimination laws in employment, education and housing.

  5. Lewis Baldwin:

    Democratic Socialist was not talking about race-based affirmative action. Democratic Socialist was concerned about need-based affirmative action, if you look at Democratic Socialist call for an economic bill of rights, Democratic Socialist was talking about affirmative action that benefited all people that were poor and deprived.


Translations for Affirmative Action

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

  • θετική δράσηGreek
  • ದೃ action ೀಕರಣದ ಕ್ರಿಯೆKannada
  • உறுதியான நடவடிக்கைTamil

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"Affirmative Action." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 6 May 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/Affirmative+Action>.

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