The giving of preferential treatment to women and minorities in business and education to redress the effects of past discrimination. Affirmative action began in the 1960s; it has benefited hundreds of thousands of minorities and helped in the creation of an African-American middle-class. The number of women in professional and managerial jobs has also increased considerably as a result of affirmative action. However, during the 1990s affirmative action has become a contentious issue. While the bulk of minorities and civil rights leaders still support it, many conservatives claim that it amounts to "reverse discrimination." Supreme Court decisions in 1995 limited the scope of affirmative action programmes in business and education. In 1997, California banned preferential treatment for minorities or women in state hiring practices.