Affirmative Action

(Apologies for the late post)

Affirmative action is a topic that has been hotly contested, with many different points of view making it a complicated issue. Strangely there is some bit of truth in every side. Some believe that affirmative action is necessary to close the gap between the performance of minorities and whites in the US. Others believe that it simply gives minorities an unfair advantage over whites in a college process that is should rely solely on merit. still others believe that affirmative action is actually racist in that it treats minorities like they need extra help. I believe the way that each of these concerns could be addressed is by changing the way affirmative action is employed to make it more about socio-economic position than race. It would keep the benefits that affirmative action is supposed to provide while also eliminating any racial requirements and making sure that colleges are helping those who truly need it most. In this way I believe that a system like affirmative action could truly make a difference, whilst providing equity. I also think that many of the problems Affirmative action is meant to address could be better fixed earlier on in a child's education. What I mean by this is that the problems facing minorities in the college process are symptomatic of problems that start in grade school. Hopefully the reform of AA and the reform of the public education system will give way to a more equitable society.