Final answer:
Affirmative action is a policy instituted by schools and employers to combat institutional racism and past discrimination by considering race and other minority factors in hiring and promotion decisions. This policy aims to create equal opportunities for minorities and is enforced by the EEOC, especially for federal contractors who have faced discrimination lawsuits.
Step-by-step explanation:
Many schools and employers have instituted a policy of affirmative action, which attempts to offset institutional racism by taking race and other minority group factors into consideration when making decisions. Affirmative action involves active efforts by government or businesses to give special rights to minorities in hiring, promotion, or access to education to make up for past discrimination. This policy includes measures such as reaching out to a broader range of minority candidates for jobs and, in more controversial cases, establishing quotas or percentages for minority hiring. However, affirmative action has faced legal challenges, and present-day policies apply primarily to federal contractors who have lost a discrimination lawsuit and are enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
As the racial and ethnic diversity of the U.S. population and workforce increases, affirmative action seeks to ensure that all groups have equal opportunities. While affirmative action has been hailed as a necessary step to counteract historic discrimination, it has also been criticized and legally challenged as reverse discrimination. The goal of affirmative action is to create a more equitable and inclusive work environment by levelling the playing field for historically disadvantaged groups.