affirmative action
nounDefinition of affirmative action
: an active effort to improve the employment or educational opportunities of members of minority groups and women
sought to achieve a multicultural staff through affirmative action
also
: a similar effort to promote the rights or progress of other disadvantaged persons
Examples of affirmative action in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
This message was one of several Booker cited on Wednesday to suggest that Kavanaugh does not favor policies for advancing diversity like race-conscious affirmative action. — Li Zhou, Vox, "The fight over Booker’s decision to release confidential Kavanaugh emails, explained.," 6 Sep. 2018 State and local agencies award contracts under separate affirmative action programs, using criteria similar to the SBA’s to determine who is Native American. — Adam Elmahrek, latimes.com, "Native American minority contracts are under scrutiny as officials vow strict enforcement," 2 July 2019 The drop is particularly noticeable when comparing enrollment statistics before and after California abolished its affirmative action programs. — Charlotte West, Teen Vogue, "What You Need to Know about Race and College Admissions," 27 Sep. 2018 As civil rights groups have also noted, Kavanaugh played an integral role in developing the Bush administration’s case against race-conscious affirmative action programs at the University of Michigan. — Li Zhou, Vox, "Kavanaugh bragged about his clerks’ diversity. His legal record is another story.," 8 Sep. 2018 In 2001, 47% of Americans expressed support for affirmative action programs, now 61% do, according to a Gallup poll released earlier this year. — Amanda Shendruk, Quartz, "Data show America’s future is more “squad” than “send her back”," 20 July 2019 In 2003, the court endorsed gay rights for the first time and narrowly upheld affirmative action policies for colleges and universities. — Los Angeles Times, "John Paul Stevens, retired Supreme Court justice, dead at 99," 16 July 2019 Senators have reportedly reviewed more than 1 million pages of documents pertaining to Kavanaugh’s career, and his views on affirmative action, voting rights and discrimination are coming under intense scrutiny as well. — Kaitlyn Schallhorn, Fox News, "Kavanaugh Supreme Court hearing witnesses include former law clerks, school shooting survivor: A full list," 7 Sep. 2018 Revoking the Obama-era guidance on affirmative action could affect elementary and secondary schools that have grappled with racial imbalances. — Nick Anderson, Washington Post, "Trump administration moves to rescind Obama-era guidance on race in admissions," 3 July 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'affirmative action.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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