America Torn Apart By Affirmative Action
“Who is accepted into the finest professional programs and colleges? What candidate should be employed or promoted? After all, affirmative action is about fairness: What is fair in America?” Terry H. Anderson questions said issues in his book “The Pursuit of Fairness,” where he speaks on the core issues of everyday citizens: equality, choice, and fairness. He argues that affirmative action holds the keys to prosperity in the U.S., this being higher education, housing, and profession. Affirmative Action is a policy that provides assistance to members of a disadvantaged group that used to or continues to suffer discrimination in areas such as education, employment, or housing. While affirmative action can bring along reverse discrimination, it should continue to be implemented throughout the nation by the U.S. Department of Labor because it ensures diversity and provides equal opportunity for minority groups.
“Do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, creed, color or national origin.” (Kennedy, John F. “Establishing The President's Committee On Equal Employment Opportunity.” Executive Order 10925, EEOC, www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/ history/35th/thelaw/eo-10925.html. 13 January 2020.) It has been almost four decades since President John F. Kennedy implemented the affirmative action policy in 1961. It was and continues to be a way to guarantee that all employers are held responsible to practice a fair-hiring process when deciding between applicants. An alternative to affirmative action was implemented during President Barack Obama's presidency that required universities to consider an applicant’s race when reviewing their application. though last July, President Donald Trump reversed this policy, saying his administration would not support an application process that takes race into consideration, and that he would only support “race-blind” admission standards. This could be detrimental not only to educational institutions and students but the potential applicants for these schools. This not only puts academic institutions and students at a disadvantage but the schools' potential applicants as well. (Sanchez, Korryn. “Affirmative Action Combats Biases.” Daily Titan, 25 Apr. 2019, https://issuu.com/dailytitan/ docs/thursday_april_25__2019.) Race in admissions is considered by only the most prestigious schools nowadays. In 2015 the ACE, American Council on Education, conducted a study on 338 nonprofit four-year institutions. The results showed that 6 in 10 colleges that admit fewer than 40% of their applicants take race into account as a factor in admittance. For now, however, eight states have banned policies of affirmative action that include both state colleges and universities.
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Advocates of the policy believe that achieving racial diversity on campus is easier with affirmative action and that it’s actually more straightforward and effective than any other alternative. In fact, supporters think of themselves to be the heroes of racial justice and preservers of Martin Luther King’s Dream. Diversity may be ideal, but higher education institutions would not be very diverse without a focused effort to encourage students to show an interest in different racial groups. Because once students are exposed to a multicultural community, they are able to emerge themselves into complex cultures and perspectives by connecting with people from a mixture of backgrounds. Furthermore, when there is a variety of identity groups within a classroom, students are able to learn from each other’s experiences. No with affirmative action, access to higher educational opportunities is possible for families who have been challenged in their lives by economic hardship and gives them a chance to prove that it is, in fact, effective for minority groups. There still are racial and sexual inequalities in our society, but with affirmative action, a new opportunity is created to help people tackle the matter.
In fact, people of color are exceptional assets for classrooms and workplaces, considering their involvement contributes to making a company more successful. “Opposers of affirmative action see themselves as defenders of merit (when someone is deserving of or is worthy of something), of colorblind equal protection enshrined in the U.S. constitution” (Anderson, Terry H. The Pursuit of Fairness a History of Affirmative Action. Oxford University Press, 2005.) Instead of combating discrimination, affirmative action is simply doing the opposite. Critics argue the consideration of race as a factor in accepting applicants to a college or university is unjust and that many of the incoming students are not worthy of even enrolling in Ivy League schools since “their chances of succeeding are slim.”
Objectors support their argument with the claim that affirmative action will only discourage students of color from reaching their full potential because “there is no motivation to aim for a GPA of 4.0 if you know an average of 3.2 is all you need to get accepted.” (Kirmmse, Judy, and Yalidy Yalidy Mercedes Matos. “Support & Opposition.” Support & Opposition, Connecticut College, 2009, 14 January 2020.) Several say that giving 'special treatment' to minorities is basically saying they're too incompetent to excel at school or even find a decent job on their own.
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