Affirmative Action

Honestly, I'm not really sure what I feel about affirmative action.  Even though the statistics may show that affirmative action may not be as effective when you look at the big picture, I think if you look at many of the individuals, you can see that affirmative action has aided many people with getting into college and achieving their goals.  Without the help of affirmative action, many talented minorities would not be receiving the same opportunities that affirmative action helps them get.  However, I think the idea of affirmative action can sometimes wrongfully emphasize race in a way that moves in the opposite direction of the idea of diversity, which is where everyone is seen as equals despite what race or background they have.  Additionally, many Asians aren't helped by affirmative action, even though they are minorities as well.  Many Asians' chances of getting into colleges are greatly decreased as soon as colleges find out their race, which I believe is really unfair for these people, many of which are immigrants and have poor economic situations.  Whites of a lower economic status are also negatively affected.  While I believe that affirmative action is a great step towards leveling the playing field for many minorities who start off on a lower ground and are not presented with the opportunities that many others of a higher ground are presented with, I'm a little concerned that affirmative action may cause some people to think that race is the determining factor in deciding whether someone gets into college or not.