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
In a 4–3 ruling penned by Anthony Kennedy, the court upheld the University of Texas’s (modest) version of affirmative action. — Eric Levitz, Daily Intelligencer, "Trump Administration Calls on Colleges to End Affirmative Action," 3 July 2018 Opponents of affirmative action have found allies in the Trump administration. — Deirdre Fernandes, BostonGlobe.com, "Harvard goes on attack to defend its admissions policies," 12 June 2018 Discussions of affirmative action are empty without the background of how these wealth disparities arose. — Valerie Strauss, Washington Post, "What you should know about race-based affirmative action and diversity in schools," 3 July 2018 The Trump Justice Department earlier signaled its concern about the fairness of affirmative action, launching an investigation of Harvard University's admissions policies. — NBC News, "Trump admin reverses Obama, prods schools to ignore racial factors in admissions," 3 July 2018 Whites have traditionally been the losers from affirmative action. — William Mcgurn, WSJ, "The Democrats’ Racial Fault Line," 25 June 2018 In addition to his crusade against affirmative action, Blum has also worked to overturn gerrymandered districts that favor racial minority candidates. — Jamie Halper, BostonGlobe.com, "Meet the man behind the Harvard admissions lawsuit," 15 June 2018 Opponents of affirmative action have used these grievances to challenge the law. — Alvin Chang, Vox, "The fraught racial politics of entrance exams for elite high schools," 14 June 2018 And on Tuesday, the US Departments of Education and Justice announced a rollback of a variety of Obama-era guidance around affirmative action. — Harry Bruinius, The Christian Science Monitor, "'Keep the test!' A debate flares over exam-based public high schools.," 6 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.
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
Comments on affirmative action
What made you want to look up affirmative action? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
Name that Food Quiz
-
- Name these cookies!
Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZ
Share affirmative action
Resources for affirmative action