For more than 50 years, affirmative action has been a part of higher education, allowing discrimination in the name of so-called diversity.
But who is it really helping, if anyone, and who is it hurting?
The popular answer from many white people would be that affirmative action was designed to keep their children out of college while supposedly accepting inferior minority students solely on the basis of the pigment of their skin.
While it is undeniable that affirmative action leads to discrimination against white people, its good intentions towards minority groups actually perpetuate stereotypes about minorities as well.
What kind of message does it send for a college to deny a white student with higher grades than a minority student who is accepted?
Colleges might as well say, ‘Don’t worry about competing with white students, because in our minds it is impossible for you to be as intellectually inclined as they are.’
Rather than encouraging minority students to do their best, this sends a message that it is okay to perform just good enough in relation to their white peers.
Is this really what we have resorted to as diversity?
Yes, I believe it is unjust to white students who may be cheated out of an acceptance, but is it not also unfair to minority students that we hold them to a lower standard?
One could argue that many minority students attend poorly resourced, underfunded elementary and high schools, so that is valid reason to hold these students to a lower standard.
But this begs a much more troubling question of why it is that the more minority students a school has, they less funding they typically receive. My guess is that it isn’t a coincidence.
According to a 2009 study by the U.S. Department of Education, “Schools with 90 percent or more students of color spend a full $733 less per student per year than schools with 90 percent or more white students.”
These school should be receiving additional funding instead of funneling even more money into well-performing schools.
Minority students should be encouraged to do just as well as white students by benefiting from similar resources.
The current affirmative action system is severely damaged and serves more as a band-aid than a permanent solution to a serious problem ingrained in our society.
The system we have now says it is okay for a minority student to perform at a lower academic level than a white student because they were not provided the same educational resources.
We need a system that will actively work to ensure all students are receiving a balanced, fair education.
The current state of affirmative action is harmful to everyone, not just white students.
