Affirmative Action: An Argumentative Analysis

In recent years, issues involving the Fourteenth Amendment have come to the forefront of United States news. Adopted on July 9, 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment was primarily aimed at providing equal protection and protecting citizenship rights of former slaves and white Americans alike. In today’s society, the importance of the this far-reaching Amendment is becoming remarkably manifest. The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits states from denying any person within the United States the equal protection of the laws. The intent of this clause is that all individuals will be treated the same when similar circumstances arise.
Today, the effects of the Fourteenth Amendment are more evident than ever. On nearly every application, questionnaire, and document, identification of the race of the individual is necessary. In most cases, the consideration of race is made in good faith; to incorporate diversity into educational settings, or provide equal opportunity for all races. Recently, such as in the case of Fisher vs. University of Texas, (2013), questions about whether or not colleges should consider race in the
This forethought to increase diversity, instead, brought about strict scrutiny of the admissions process. Some might say that the consideration of race is justified because affirmative action is meant to be a proactive approach in removing prejudices. However, many affirmative action programs, such as The University of Texas’, tend to unduly benefit the minority groups at the expense of the white majority. Considering the number of minority applicants, which typically make up about 20-25% of the total applicants, racial groups that are considered the minority now have somewhat of an advantage over the majority