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Using examples how public policy, has attempted to promote opportunities for racial minorities
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Using examples how public policy, has attempted to promote opportunities for racial minorities
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Jessica lachlanUsing examples how public policy, has attempted to promote opportunities for racial
minorities (15)
First of all there was busing which where in 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court made a decision
in the Brown v. Board of Education case, which made racial segregation in public schools
unconstitutional. Busing was the practice of assigning and transporting black students to
white schools and white students to black schools via buses, busing attempted to redress
the problem of black children not being equal to white children because by there being
separate schools. However it didn’t turn out to be much of a success because in some cases
the schools the kids were being transported to many miles away from the children’s homes,
which often presented problems to them and their families. In addition, many families were
angry about having to send their children miles to another school in an unfamiliar
neighborhood when there was an available school a short distance away. Large numbers of
white families moved to the suburbs of large cities so they to avoid the busing and this
reduced the effectiveness of the policy. Also some white parents who didn’t choose to move
simply placed their children into private schools and this further reduced effects of the
policy.
Secondly there are executive orders. In 1961 Kennedy created the equal employment
opportunity council, this required that projects financed with federal funds ‘take affirmative
action to ensure that hiring and employment practices would be free from racial bias. The
improvement of employing more ethnic minorities can be proven by the fact that during
Kennedys cut short presidency many black people were appointed to federal positions,
forty Blacks to administrative posts such as Administrator of the Housing and Home
Finance Agency, Associate White House Press Secretary, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of
State for Public Affairs. He also selected five black federal judges, with the intent of giving
hope to Black Americans that more important jobs will go to Blacks and this did indeed give
them more hope. No other president had done anything like this before and Kennedys aim
was to fulfill his promise he made in his inaugural about ending racial discrimination.
Another executive order was in 1965 was by Johnson who attempted to continue Kennedys
attempts to eliminate racial discrimination. Johnson said in a speech to Harvard university
“We seek not just freedom but opportunity—not just legal equity but human ability—not
just equality as a right and a theory, but equality as a fact and as a result." In an executive
order Johnson wanted federal government contractors to ‘take affirmative action’ towards
prospective minority employees in all aspects of hiring and employment in order to prevent
people not being hired on the grounds of the fact they are black. Arguably this has been a
very successful order and has greatly improved racial equality.
Federal legislation is another example of public policy. The 1964 civil rights act outlawed
major forms of discrimination against ethnic and racial minorities and this is arguably the
most significant example of how public policy has promoted opportunities for racial
minorities.
Another type of public policy which can help eliminate dricrimiation against racial
minorities is ballot initiatives. And example of this is a ballot initiative in collarado to ban
affirmative action, they used Barack Obama's historic 2008 presidential campaign as proof
that preferential treatment based on race and gender are no longer necessary. California,
Washington and Michigan have already passed such measures.
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