Affirmative action is
essential to creating a more egalitarian society. In the case of giving African Americans and Hispanics
a fairer playing field, affirmative action is extremely important. One main
opposition is that race should have nothing to do with education and in an
ideal world it would not, however, the world is not colorblind and neither are
teachers. According to federal data, “Minority students have less access to
advanced courses, more inexperienced teachers and face tougher disciplinary consequences
than their counterparts.”[1]
In fact tougher disciplinary actions against minorities goes beyond just the
school, “More than 70 percent of students arrested in school or handed over to
law enforcement were black or Hispanic.”[2]
Since minorities are more likely to get in trouble and miss out on valuable
school time they are not ensured the same education as their white peers. As well as being discriminated against in
school, African Americans are put at a disadvantage when applying for jobs. The
Chicago Booth School of Business found: “applicants with white-sounding names
are 50 percent more likely to get called for an initial interview than
applicants with African-American-sounding names.”[3]
White people have an advantage with teachers as well as employers. Society is
not colorblind so why should admissions officers be?
Although
affirmative action is vital for African Americans and Hispanics, it is unfair to Asians. Asians
are still discriminated against and have faced oppression throughout American
history yet it is more difficult for them to get into top universities than
their white peers. Asians, “who demonstrate academic excellence at disproportionately high rates
but often find the value of their work discounted on account of either their
race, or nebulous criteria alluding to it.”[4] Universities should not limit the amount of a
race they accept just because a certain demographic is known for
excelling. One way that Asians are
especially held to a different standard is regarding test scores. “Sociologists
Thomas J. Espenshade and Alexandria Walton Radford found that Asian Americans
need to score 140 points higher on the SAT than their white peers to
have the same shot at university admission, according to Inside Higher Ed.”[5] Affirmative
action’s original purpose, to give those who are minorities equal access the
same as those who are privileged, fails when it disadvantages Asians. Affirmative action needs tweaking but it does
not need to be abolished.
[1] Joy Resmovits, "Minority
Students Face Harsher Discipline, Fewer Options, New Federal Data Shows."
The Huffington Post.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/06/minority-students-education-study_n_1322594.html#s755448title=High_Schools_Offering
(accessed July 23, 2014).
[2]
IBID
[3]Marianne Bertrand, “Are Emily and Brendan More Employable than
Lakisha and Jamal?” Chicago GSB | Capital Ideas.
http://www.chicagobooth.edu/capideas/spring03/racialbias.html (accessed July
22, 2014).
[4] Ethan Bronner,
"Asian-Americans in the Argument." The New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/education/edlife/affirmative-action-a-complicated-issue-for-asian-americans.html?pagewanted=all
(accessed July 16, 2014).
[5] Gregory Kristof,
"Affirmative Action Admissions: Asian Americans Support Race-Conscious
Practices, Survey Finds." The Huffington Post.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/25/affirmative-action_n_1624696.html
(accessed July 22, 2014).
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