since the 1960s. The passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is
broadly viewed as a major step in the direction of finally securing
for blacks and other minorities the legal protections putatively
guaranteed them in the Constitution and post-Civil War legislation.
Since enactment of this statutory declaration of a right to equal
opportunity in American society, the Congress, the courts and the
presidency have taken appropriate governmental steps to strike
down many of the remaining obstacles to equal opportunity that
continued to confront minorities in this country in the 1960s. One
important--and quite controversial--aspect of this effort to enhance
equality of opportunity for those who were historically victims of
unjust discrimination was the development of the policy of
affirmative action.

According to the United States Commission on Civil Rights,
affirmative action refers to "any measure, beyond simple termination
of a discriminatory practice, adopted to correct or compensate for
past or present discrimination or to prevent discrimination from
recurring in the future" ( U.S. Civil Rights Commission 1979:179).
The logic used by the Civil Rights Commission hinges on the
recognition that to simply remove discriminatory barriers is not
enough to ensure that equity will be achieved in the work force.
Many writers, discussing the challenges that affirmative action seeks
to meet, cite the familiar story of the two runners in a race, one of
whom is shackled at the ankles. Halfway through the race the judge
notices that one of the runners is shackled and undoes the chains.
The story then posits the questions faced in examining affirmative
action: Should the judge give the shackled runner a 'head start' in
the race to make up for the damage of having been shackled?
Should both runners start together with no special help? What,
ultimately, would make the race "fair"? The Civil Rights
Commission maintains that affirmative action recognizes that to
make the race "fair" some help has to be given to the previously
shackled runner to make up for past disadvantages. Members of the
Commission write:

The justification for affirmative action to secure equal access
to the job market lies in the need to overcome the effects of
past discrimination by the employers, unions, colleges and
universities who are asked to undertake such action. It rests
also in the practical need to assure that young people whose
lives have been marred by discrimination in public education
and other institutions are not forever barred from the
opportunity to realize their potential and to become useful

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