With the signature of Executive Order 10925 in 1961, President John F. Kennedy created the President's Commission on Equal Employment Opportunity, and thus, began transforming the world of minorities, woman and the handicapped to equal existence with Caucasian males (Shelton 10). Still, this was only the foundation for a debate, which had begun decades prior to Kennedy's presidency. As "...one of the most significant public policies of the twentieth-century..." affirmative action is surrounded by controversy and criticism (Soni 1). …showed first 75 words of 2859 total…

…showed last 75 words of 2859 total…receive help. As Justice Thurgood Marshall the "stalwart champion" of affirmative action once said, "...if we are ever to become a fully integrated society--one in which the color of a person's skin will not determine the opportunities available to him or her--we must be willing to take steps to open these doors" (Carney 7). Another statement could not have better expressed my personal justification for affirmative action. Affirmative action promotes a more impartial and beneficial society.