Affirmative action is an executive order that was made in 1961 stating that the contractor will ensure applicants are employed and that they should be treated right during employment, no matter race, color, creed, or national origin.

In other words, affirmative action assures companies to achieve a more diverse workforce and that colleges should also ensure racial and gender equity. Initially, the affirmative action order only included racial groups and excluded women, but in 1967, affirmative action spread to fight against sexism by guaranteeing a percentage of men and women from a variety of ethnic groups in colleges and workspaces.

Throughout the decades, there have been unsatisfied students with the rules of affirmative action. Senior Benjamin Amidei dislikes affirmative action because he believes that it is an ineffective way to give opportunities to minority groups. He stated, “things should be done before hiring individuals to give them the same shot at getting into universities, instead of just giving them a skip to a prestigious place where they might not have the skill set.”

Affirmative action is being perceived as unfair and being on the verge of being removed; this may provoke negative feelings due to it not being perfect.

However, it gives minorities and people with racial disadvantages a better chance, therefore having strong supporters. One being junior Ana Villela is a firm supporter of affirmative action and a believer that everyone will benefit from it. Historically citizens protest against certain laws as they are viewed as being unjust towards minorities.

Ana Villela says, “Reverse racism is not a thing because the system that we live in was designed for white men, so it is good to give people from other backgrounds more opportunities that they might not have gotten otherwise.”

A freshman at La Jolla High School, Tara Mettiar, also disagrees with Ana. She believes this, “Reverse racism is just being racist. I don’t feel like being racist has anything to do with who you’re being racist to, it’s just being racist.”

Nevertheless, affirmative action has helped a lot of people work for a better life and has kept them employed and studying. Although the best decision might be to help these people by reaching out to them and bettering their learning circumstances, the alternative has proven itself successful. Without it, there would be no improvement.