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Affirmative action is one of the hottest debates concerning equality in today¡¯s American society. The proponents of affirmative action insist that it is an effective and important tool in creating equality. However, those who oppose it think that affirmative action is totally counterproductive. According to some of the arguments in the book Searching For Great Ideas, the two opposite views of affirmative action are analyzed in this essay. In ¡°The White House Review of Affirmative Action,¡± the advocates of affirmative action show their reasons to support it. First of all, affirmative action offers equal opportunity to all the American citizens, especially those who belong to minority groups. In this argument, it is assumed that inequality of opportunity does exist in today¡¯s society because of race and gender. Since ¡°offering every American a fair chance to achieve success is a central tenet of our constitutional and political system¡is a bedrock value in our culture¡and is the fundamental goal of the civil rights statute,¡± affirmative action, whose main function is to create equal opportunity, is very important for not only the success of the individuals, but also the ideal quality of our nation and culture. To support this premise, two reasons are listed to prove the importance of affirmative in creating equal opportunity. The first reason is that it reduces the problem of discrimination. At this point, discrimination is assumed as unfair consideration and treatment that mostly happens to minorities when they are facing job or education opportunities. Except in the case for reducing discrimination to create equal opportunity, affirmative action also expands opportunity by promoting inclusion of underrepresented minorities.
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