It is unlawful to establish quotas and fill them solely on the basis of the race or sex of the applicant in any affirmative action program. Employers and schools are required to set goals and deadlines for hiring or recruiting women and minorities to achieve racial diversity. Due to the underrepresentation of African Americans, women, and minorities, affirmative action was created. It was created to ensure the inclusion of all qualified people and prevent racial and gender discrimination. An employer is not required to hire a person who does not have the qualifications necessary to perform the job successfully in pursuit of its objectives, nor to choose someone who is less qualified than another based on race or race. of his sex. There are no legal penalties for employers or schools if targets are not met, provided good faith and effort is made to achieve them. Some people mistakenly believe that people of African descent, women, and minorities benefit from preferences in favor of these policies, but this is not true. African Americans, women, and minorities are all entitled to opportunities to engage in higher education and careers that were once denied to them. Affirmative action was first established in Executive Order 10925, signed by President John F. Kennedy on March 6, 1961 and required government contractors "not to discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, creed, color or national origin” as well as “taking affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed and that employees are treated during their employment.” , without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin” (American Equal Employment Opportunity Committee Lyndon B. Johnson reinstated middle of paper....). .. quotas are a necessity in order to include equal opportunity and racial diversity in employment and educational institutions Works CitedExecutive Order 10925 - Establishment of the Presidential Committee on Equal Opportunity in Employment. 'job". U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Retrieved 02/05/2010. Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1965. Volume II, entry 301, pp. 635-640. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1966. Stolovitch, Dara Z. 2007. Affirmative Advocacy: Race, Class, and Gender in Interest Group Politics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Joint Economic Committee of the United States Congress. Invest in Women, Invest in America: A Comprehensive Examination of Women in the American Economy. Washington, DC, December 2010, p.80.http://jec.senate.gov/public/?a=Files.Serve&File_id=9118a9ef-0771-4777-9c1f-8232fe70a45c