Affirmative Action In College

Affirmative Action has been debated for several decades; however, this war between powers has long left many others out of consideration. Essentially, Affirmative Action is a policy that favors those who tend to be discriminated against. More specifically, a policy to help students from poor families and of an underrepresented minority gain access to college and higher education, therefore giving them an apparently equal chance to succeed. Many students benefit from Affirmative Action, but many more are hurt, deprived of opportunities they would have had without it. But for the most part, college admissions are actually skewed by a vast variety of factors, not just by race. However, Affirmative Action does play a pivotal role in many college
Affirmative Action has an unfathomable impact on college admissions. Over the past 60 years, 8 states have banned the process. According to federal laws, colleges are allowed to use race as a factor in choosing students but must present a justified reason for doing so (Toppo). Affirmative Action does justly use race, to an extent. It helps produce racial diversity in schools, although how a school defines diversity can vary (Toppo). This process does benefit many underrepresented minorities, extending a hand of assistance to those who have no one to come forward for them. These minorities need a leg up in American society, which oftens oppresses minorities and makes it difficult for them to display their merit (Bailey). After all, stereotypes are not foreign in America. And when people are constantly exposed to these negative preconceptions in both media and social communities, they will align themselves to them (DeAngelis). However, Affirmative Action should not be, but is wrongly interpreted as, a racial quota system (Bailey). It is not an excuse for colleges, to purposefully sort their applicants based on race in an effort to please the media and produce a delusion diversity (Hentoff). Honorable schools especially, such as Harvard, cannot support this practice, for they set the path for other schools around the country (Carapezza). Affirmative Action should be
College admission is a game that reeks of underhanded plays. The rich and powerful tend to gain preference, or simply have more resources to develop skills needed for admission. Affirmative Action also plays a part, creating mock quotas, and gilded images of diversity in campuses. But in the end, Affirmative Action does not produce a pleasing mixture, instead it inhibits the potential of many students in an effort to equalize conditions. Overall, race plays too strong a part in the back and forth debate of college admissions. The true battle should be between the poor and the rich. America is a country built on the mixture of different cultures, bringing in their strengths and uniting their peoples. Playing the race card will only drive people apart. The truth is, there are poor Whites, poor Blacks and poor Asians, just as there are rich Whites, rich Blacks and rich Asians. The age-old habit of stereotyping an applicant’s needs based on race must be abolished. When considering how to weight a student’s applications, colleges should look at their family’s wealth and needs, as well as how that applicant compares to other students on his or her level of academics and extracurricular activities. Applicants should not be compared just because they share the same ethnicity. Why should an applicant be overshadowed by his successful ethnicity?