Minority money

The world of scholarships is an ugly place.

Applying involves selling yourself in fewer than 500 ringing words that are supposed to stick with an unknown panel of judges. But even less appealing than the application process is the backlash people experience for receiving scholarships.

Sure, it’s all smiles at home, but when you’re around peers, they dole out bitter backhanded compliments about how nice it is that you got a scholarship because you’re Asian or African-American or Hispanic.

The competitive nature of the game and the development of minority-only scholarships leads to a group of jealous have-nots making a rewarding achievement into a race issue.

If I had a dime for every time I overheard someone saying that minorities take all of the scholarship money, I wouldn’t need scholarships to cover my out-of-state tuition.

It’s true studies show minorities make up the lowest income families in America, and it’s important that scholarship programs acknowledge that children from low-income districts may not have the same opportunities as children from a higher-income district.

And, although I recognize the importance of trying to level the playing field when it comes to financial need, as a minority student myself, sometimes I just wish that scholarships were based solely on merit.

I’m tired of hearing I don’t deserve the money I get based on something I was born with. After all, we’re trying to use demographics and statistics to measure immeasurable qualities like ambition and probability of success.

You know, maybe I don’t deserve a scholarship based on race, and I certainly don’t think people need any more reason to enforce stereotypes when it comes to minorities.

We take your valedictorian title, your fancy cars, your jobs and now, lo and behold, your money for higher education.

The perception is that minority students live to do the same work everyone else does and just get paid more for it, and I’m not going to deny there are a few people who cheat a flawed system.

But I also know there are many people who happen to be minorities who work as hard as the top tier of white people who feel they have reverse-beat the “anti-racist” educational system.

Scholarships and merit awards aren’t supposed to be “Survivor: White vs. Minority” edition, but now that’s exactly what it is.

I long for a society blind to color. But don’t we all?

­— jkaneshi@indiana.edu