Affirmative Action | Definition of Affirmative Action by Merriam-Webster
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/affirmative%20action
Definition of affirmative action. : an active effort to improve the employment or educational opportunities of members of minority groups and women sought to achieve a multicultural staff through affirmative action also : a similar effort to promote the rights or progress of other disadvantaged persons.
That is what is has come to mean legally. No one before the ‘60s would have understood it thus.