Part one of term paper
America was known as the Land of Opportunity. Then it became evident that "opportunity" was only available to white men. Later, laws were passed to ensure equal opportunity regardless of race, sex, or religion. These Affirmative Action laws were set in place by our government with the intent of correcting the social evil know as prejudice; ...

Part two of term paper
... opportunity, or at least a fair opportunity, was a reality for more of our citizens. These programs were a response to economic, political and cultural circumstances that demanded, then encouraged, and then tolerated widespread discrimination on the basis of such factors as color, gender and ethnic background. The common hope was that these programs would be transitory in nature and would enable us as a society to reach a point, at some future date, when they would no longer be needed" (Shapiro). ...