Discrimination and affirmative action in business - Research Paper Example

Affirmative action refers to the policies and procedures set up by taking certain factors into account, such as race, color, creed, sex or religion. In recent history, discrimination on the basis of religion is the most common. There have been reports made by the members of the Muslim community, of harassment and discrimination due to 9/11 (Edward, 2006). This essay tries to understand the reasons for affirmative action and the importance of its presence in business and management. It further outlines the origin or the need for such an action.

Another popular belief, that affirmative action leads to a discriminatory action towards the majority of that society is also discussed. A conclusion on the debate is presented towards the end of this essay. The movement of such an action that protected the minority from any discrimination was initially started in the United States only. Civil right programs were enacted in the United States, in order to save the African Americans and provide them a status of full citizenship in the country. The thirteenth amendment of the Constitution made slavery as an illegal action; the fourteenth amendment allows equal protection to all while the fifteenth amendment allows full access to voting and forbids any act of racism during voting (Marquita, 1995).

These amendments were one of the first steps towards affirmative action. John F. Kennedy was the first person to use Affirmative action as a phrase, in 1961. This required that federal contractors are supposed to take affirmative action to ensure people from all classes, creed, race, religion and nations are employed and treated as equals to other members of their workplace. Since then, affirmative action is required in regards to employment based on gender as well. The major aim for affirmative action is to increase the representation of women, people of color or minorities in areas of education, employment and business, where they have not