affirmative action noun2 •A set of policies or programs providing advantages for people of a group who are seen to have traditionally been the target of discrimination.Several proponents of affirmative action who were interviewed cited the scandal to dismiss the notion, advanced by some opponents of the policy, that America has moved beyond racial discrimination. — 1996 •A specific policy with such a goal.The debate on specific affirmative actions has similarly been reduced to mean quotas and preferential treatment of minorities and white women at the expense of white males. — 1995 formsaffirmative actions
