Affirmative action is an attempt to promote equal opportunity in government and educational settings to ensure that minority groups within a society are included in all programs. The justification for affirmative action is to make up for past discrimination, persecution or exploitation by the ruling class of a culture or to address existing discrimination.

Some countries have laws on racial equality, however affirmative action is illegal because it doesn't treat all races equally. This approach of equal treatment is sometimes described as being "color blind", hoping that it is effective against discrimination without reverse discrimination.