Is it reverse racial discrimination when a qualified white student is denied college admission because the space is taken by a less qualified minority?
A case that may affect affirmative action in college admissions is going to be heard at the Supreme Court. It all started when Abigail Fisher was turned down for admission to the University of Texas in 2008:
Texas provides admission for those in the top 10 percent of the state high schools. Fisher did not qualify and was put into a pool of applicants where race is considered along with other factors such as test scores, community service, leadership qualities and work experience.
She was competing for less than 20 percent of admission slots that remained. Fisher and another white female student denied admission sued, but the other applicant has already graduated from another college and has dropped out of the case.
Fisher said in the lawsuit that her academic credentials exceeded those of many minority students, but that she lost out because of a coding system in which race is used as a factor in admissions decisions to increase classroom diversity.
Needless to say, the case is generating quite the controversy:
A growing number of states are outlawing affirmative action in college admissions, suggesting the court will be taking on the subject amid growing distaste with the practice, said Roger Clegg, president and general counsel of the Center for Equal Opportunity, a Falls Church, Virginia, nonprofit opposed to racial preferences.
"In a country with so many different racial and ethnic groups, it becomes more and more untenable for institutions to be sorting people based on their skin color and what countries their ancestors come from," Clegg said in an interview.
Supporters of affirmative action say the experiences in those states show the continuing need for the programs.
In California, which outlawed race-based admissions at state schools through a 1996 ballot initiative, black enrollment declined throughout the system, falling to 3 percent at the state's public law schools within five years, Bollinger said. Black enrollment has since rebounded, though not to pre-1996 levels, affirmative action advocates said.
"We are still living with the tragic legacy of slavery and Jim Crow," Bollinger said. "That's a very important fact that we have to address."
What do you think? Should Affirmative Action be banned?
Affirm. Act. should be stopped. Case in point: And my own personal experience, and no, I wasn't turned down for a promotion over someone of another background...read on...
I got the promotion but after six months it was readily apparent I was way in over my "league". It was mainly computer skills and trust me...you will be found out VERY SOON if you can't keep up. This goes back to Affirm Act. If someone is only 'passed' on background or skin color or unqualified---ME, to meet quotas for federal aid, then those too won't hold a job long..not biased here but entrenched in reality...
I'm still there but only from the support of a female CEO that saw my work ethic and shortcomings. Went back to night school and polished up the comp. skills.
respect to all,
- Stupid people
- Short people
- Fat people
- Red headed people
- Socially inept
- Ugly people
- Lazy people
- People who wear socks with sandals
- People who require corrective lenses
- People who wear their shirt collars up
- Felons
- Excessive talkers
- Bald people
- Terrorists
- Etc
These people have had life-long disabilities that others haven't so they should get in regardless of their test scores too! They also have different points of view than the majorities so they should be given preferential treatments in business too!
Antonin Scalia, a Supreme Court Justice says that Affirmative Action is the "Worst Seed of a Bad Fruit".
If you think about it, Affirmative Action is bad for all parties involved. Minorities are treated almost as a statistic, and can get into better colleges with lower scores. Wait, back that up ... isn't this discrimination all over again? This is saying that they are WORSE than the majority. For the people who can do well on their own but are pushed out of their spot because of a person from a minority, well we can ALL CLEARLY see that that's not fair.
In summary, Affirmative Action is a pile of horse dung.
So should other racist activities . Miss black America, the Alma awards, black history month, and anything else that excludes other races. It's absurd! The country would never tolerate Miss Caucasian America, the Caucasian awards, or Caucasian history month.
To deny inclusion to any other race is, obviously, racist.
Miss black America implies you aren't good enough to be Miss America. The Alma awards imply that you aren't good enough to win other competitive awards. And, black history is taught regularly in schools now.
Certainly we should celebrate our diversity. America is a land of diversity! And in many cases, we do celebrate diversity across racial lines. We all celebrate Martin Luthor King day, St. Patrick's Day, Cinco de Mayo, Oktoberfest , etc.
While I'm here, why am I an American if my husband's family is Irish American? Why must people identify their ancestors place of birth before their own? We would be a much more cohesive whole if we quit with the Arab-American, African-American, and all the rest.
Yes, be proud and respectful of your ancestors. But remember why you haven't gone back to the country of their birth.
YOU ARE AN AMERICAN! Isn't that good enough? I sure think it is.
Um.. Hello, not all black people live in Harlem, nor is everyone in the ghetto black.
What would be much more beneficial to both companies and society? Mentor programs between businesses and high schools.
a (1) : preconceived judgment or opinion
By definition, is Affirmative Action in fact a prejudice? It is based on skin color, nothing more. It doesn't take into account how much money the person has in the bank. It doesn't take into account if the person has a 4.0 GPA or never graduated from elementary school. Personally, I am surprised minorities are not offended at the idea they are collectively grouped together as either poor and/or uneducated.
I think there are groups of people in the country that take advantage of this and they should be ashamed of themselves. Think of all of the people/refugees who have come to this country legally/invited in the past 30-40 years from war torn countries/political strife with nothing more than the clothes on their back, not a penny to their name and an entirely different language. Many are now business owners or have taken up a trade and made a name for themselves!
It's sad that schools are treated like zoos ('come see the minority'; 'I bet he/she has a unique viewpoint'). Plus, the sense of scrutiny only encourages exaggerated behavior according to stereotypes to conform to expectations that...(surprise!) furthers racism among those observing it.
What about women? When I was in engineering school, there were 3 women out of hundreds of men. Should the university encourage more women in their programs? What if there were to be no women at all in my engineering school, because there was always a plentiful supply of men with slightly better grades?
What about affirmative action on the job site? I know- “The job should go to the most qualified”. However, what happens when a company is truly prejudice? They absolutely, will never higher any minority. It doesn’t matter what their grades are, or the university they attended or how good their personality is. Then what do you do?
What about a company not paying women or minorities the same salary for the same experience and job?
I don’t know what the answer is to all this. It is easy to say “Life isn’t fair.” but for a white male like me, it sure is a lot more fair.
I was annoyed going to uni that a fellow student with a hispanic grandmother paid less for all four years than I did (white as white-out) for a single semester. And I had academic scholarships, too.
You can't make up for a rubbish early childhood education at college. Efforts closing the very real achievement gaps between Asian and Black students are better targeted to 0-16 than 17-21 -- the results are better and more lasting.
The above is slightly out of context but AA is directly based on racial lines. Exactly what Dr. King was trying to blur and someday erase.
No one should be discriminated against because of their color or race and those people who do that should be prosecuted.
People should be rewarded based on their efforts and skills. It's the content of their character and not the color of their skin.
If someone needs help or training, then fine. Let's help them.
But it's time for this policy of reverse discrimination to end.
Yet, that is Affirmative Action defined in the raw. Special considerations and acquiescence rewarded to skin color and ethnicity apparently to make up for their inherent lack of ability to make the grade by their own honest efforts, hard work, self-discipline, and personal responsibility to the direct detriment, disqualification, and exclusion of a separate skin color and ethnicity which is apparently more inclined to be honest, work hard, stay the course, and take responsibility for their actions.
Affirmative Action is racially bigoted in and of itself and it perpetuates racism. The exclusions and disqualifications of people in one ethnic group which is done to the detriment of the people in that specific ethnic group in order to solely and directly benefit and advance another ethnicity simply because of ethnicity and nothing more than ethnicity, which is what Affirmative Action implicitly does do, is totally and completely without question — full blown racism.
In fact, Affirmative Action is fully tantamount to making a person sit at the back of the bus simply because of their ethnicity. Abolish racism? Okay then… Abolish Affirmative Action.
Let hard work, personal effort, self-discipline, and personal responsibility be the foundation of individual people’s success. Not skin color. That’s racist.
Yet, that is Affirmative Action defined in the raw. Special considerations and acquiescence rewarded to skin color and ethnicity apparently to make up for their inherent lack of ability to make the grade by their own honest efforts, hard work, self-discipline, and personal responsibility to the direct detriment, disqualification, and exclusion of a separate skin color and ethnicity which is apparently more inclined to be honest, work hard, stay the course, and take responsibility for their actions.
Affirmative Action is racially bigoted in and of itself and it perpetuates racism. The exclusions and disqualifications of people in one ethnic group which is done to the detriment of the people in that specific ethnic group in order to solely and directly benefit and advance another ethnicity simply because of ethnicity and nothing more than ethnicity, which is what Affirmative Action implicitly does do, is totally and completely without question -- full blown racism.
In fact, Affirmative Action is fully tantamount to making a person sit at the back of the bus simply because of their ethnicity. Abolish racism? Okay then... Abolish Affirmative Action.
Let hard work, personal effort, self-discipline, and personal responsibility be the foundation of individual people's success. Not skin color. That's racist.
My mother has a high school degree and my father only completed the 11th grade. I am white. I worked hard in school, got all of my test prep books at the PUBLIC LIBRARY, and was accepted (on my own merits and not on my race) into college.
Neither income nor family history is an excuse not to educate yourself.
And Bruce: even depressed urban schools have libraries with free test prep books.
You write "I’d like to see a score that reflects your gpa over the average gpa of those in your school as one possible factor in an application."
That's what the University of Texas already does. They automatically accept the top 10% of each public high school. So students in bad schools who perform well compared to their peers in terms of GPA are automatically admitted.
But... if income is the root, how does one break the cycle and move to the next salary level without an education? It seems pretty circular, at least in my small scope. I don't know if it's a point of racism, or that it's just really difficult to make this a fair situation for anyone. BUT, who should be concerned with fair when one candidate is, in fact, more qualified vs the other?
Also try and pass those tests if your high school is in a depressed urban area and doesn't offer AP classes.
To pretend that all students coming into the test have had equal opportunities is just that. Pretend.
That said, race is no longer convenient shorthand for correcting for missing opportunity.
I'd like to see a score that reflects your gpa over the average gpa of those in your school as one possible factor in an application.