What are advantages and disadvantages of affirmative action?

Although many people would like to claim that we are living in a "post-racial" world, the fact of the matter is that the United States continues to host horrifically racist and prejudiced behaviors and attitudes. We can see this everywhere from the fight in the South to maintain the use of Confederate flags (a Civil War symbol of those fighting to protect slavery) to Presidential nominee Donald Trump's message to "build a wall" to keep out "terrorists" and "rapists" (his discriminatory descriptors of Syrian refugees and Mexican immigrants) to the spree of police shootings of young Black, Latino, and Native American individuals.

Affirmative action was introduced to the United States in the 1960s to prevent discrimination based on race, creed, color, or national origin. There are many advantages of these policies. They ensure that space is carved out in  historically privileged academic systems for minorities, and they promote diversity. They also provide job opportunities that may not otherwise be accessible due to the personal judgments of employers (who are often white), help protect people of color from hate crimes, and promote a moral commitment to working toward racial and social justice after centuries of oppression. 

One might argue that one of the disadvantages of affirmative action is that it doesn't seem to be doing a whole lot to resolve racial tensions in America--especially given the aforementioned issues we've faced over the last five years alone. It also seems to give privileged white individuals "fuel for the fire," as they can wield the presence of affirmative action as "evidence" that they are being unfairly treated, despite the fact that their class status and race imbues them with huge perks. Even more sinisterly, many racists use affirmative action as an excuse to continue their racist behaviors, with these controversial policies seemingly serving as just another reason to hate or resent people of color. 

Ultimately, I would argue that affirmative action does more good than harm. It may not solve the problem, but it is offering room for people of color to have their voices heard in important places, be it the classroom or the office.