Affirmitive Action in the College Admissions Process

Every year millions of high school seniors apply to colleges and universities across the country. Some get in, some don 't. These schools have strict policies on the criteria for the acceptance of such students. The criteria involve many aspects of a student 's prior academic career, such as their academic standing, extra curricular activities and work ethic. These are criteria that put everyone on the same level because everyone has the ability to work harder or join more athletics. However, no one can change the color of their skin, and colleges base their admissions on these variables as well. So racism, in a sense, affects even the most basic of human ideals, education. If all men are truly created equal, as it is written, then race should not matter. Why aren 't college admissions based solely on merit? No person should be given an advantage based solely on the color of his or her skin. Racism is the belief that one particular race is superior to another. Throughout history people have been persecuted or singled out because of the color of their skin, even in our own country. How can this be in a country that claims that all men are created equal? Racism is so much a part of American culture now that we have claims of reverse racism and programs implemented, such as affirmative action, not just to protect the rights of a different person but to further them along in life and to make things easier for them. When this country was founded, it was believed that people that were born with a different color skin were inferior to those with white skin. They were in fact enslaved before America was actually founded, and this treatment continued until the country was nearly a hundred years old. Since then African Americans and other races have been attempting to reach equality in this country. One such method has been through education. In America, intelligence for the most part is respected, just as much as hard work. College in this country is the epitome of both.

Cited: Altbach, Philip G. and Kofi Lomotey. The Racial Crisis in American Higher Education. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1991. Browne-Miller, Angela Kleiner, Carolyn. "Wanted: a whole rainbow of talent Colleges are vying for minority students." U.S. News and World Report 18 Volume 129 Sep. 2000. Marcus, Amy Dockser Meacham, Jon. "The new face of race" Newsweek Volume 136 Sep/ 18, 2000. Reisberg, Leo losing the race" The Chronicle of Higher Education Volume 46 11 Aug. 2000.