Preview

Affirmative Action in Higher Education Should Be Abolished Essay Example

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2011 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Affirmative Action in Higher Education Should Be Abolished Essay Example
Introduction:
Affirmative action in higher education should be abolished. College admissions should be based on what the admissions board is looking for, not what the government says should be required. In this paper, I will present evidence to support that position. At one time, affirmative action was a needed and legitimate policy. Segregation has existed way too much in the past and has left people out of jobs, out of certain areas of town, and schooling. We needed to make a law that would get rid of segregation, and help everybody assimilate or just live peacefully without discrimination. When a majority the southern where rebelling and would not allow African Americans in their stores, schools, etc, affirmative action was justifiable. But is it today? Much of the affirmative action debate is, and should be centered on education. Many of the critics whom at one time also believed that the preferential treatment shown to lower the discrimination towards minority groups is something that should be eliminated. Being that American society has become less discriminatory, affirmative action may be less necessary. Discrimination is something that will always be an issue; there will always be backwards individuals who cannot overlook their own prejudices for the greater good. However, there are fewer of these people. With declines in racism, we should also seek to eliminate the reverse racism now being displayed towards college while male applicants.
This is an issue that effects potential students, and those who get rejected merely apply to another school. How can this issue of accepting minorities over others because be brought to the attention of the lawmakers without making it seem as if there will be less opportunities for minority groups? Equality is a very sensitive topic that has to be danced around with the potential for a misconception of what is trying to be achieved. In the early 1960's the federal government implemented programs

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    This article sheds light on the last affirmative action case which was 10 years ago. The article goes into detail about the 13 page dissent that Justice Anthony M. Kennedy issued after the ruling. The article also talks about whether or not colleges should be allowed to take race into consideration so that they can have diverse classes.…

    • 309 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In my opinion, I believe that Affirmative Action was possibly essential when it was originally enacted. While the harm done as a consequence of slavery and prejudice has not completely been conquer, I think we have reach a position of equal opportunity in this country where the accidental cost of ongoing affirmative action policies outweigh any advantage that they could realize. Consequently I am not in kindness of continued affirmative action policies but in its place hold up equal opportunity…

    • 81 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    some may think that affirmative action is no longer necessary I find it to be the opposite. Most…

    • 1224 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In this essay I will expose what I see as the shortcomings of the current…

    • 1733 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    One concept that continues to be a hot-button issue throughout America's history, as well as in present-day is affirmative action. Affirmative action, at its root base, is defined as the favoring of a group of people based on previous discrimination and disenfranchisement throughout history. Specifically, affirmative action plays an integral role in the admission of disadvantaged minorities into a vast number of schools, organizations, and occupations. Moreover, a new conflict has arisen regarding affirmative action: whether or not the criteria should shift from race, gender, and ethnicity, to class and poverty. From a non-minority's perspective on the controversial issue of affirmative action, one could make the argument that affirmative…

    • 1268 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Affirmative Action

    • 37361 Words
    • 150 Pages

    II. What Should Replace Racial Affirmative Action in Higher Education? 11 III. Profiles of States in Which Affirmative Action in College Admissions Has Been Banned 26 Notes About the Authors…

    • 37361 Words
    • 150 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Race-based affirmative action is justifiable in order to increase diversity. While many adversaries criticize the notion that there is a collective responsibility of society to make up for past wrong-doings, this argument focuses only on promoting diversity. In colleges, having a diverse, mixed student body allows students to learn from a wide range of backgrounds. It also helps disadvantaged minorities reach higher leadership positions which would then help the general populations of those minorities because they would have a role model and someone advocating for policies that would benefit them. This argument for increasing diversity sees college admissions as a way to benefit the common good of society. While this would leave some people feeling bitter that minority applicants got in with lower test scores, ultimately, affirmative…

    • 416 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Students are increasingly being admitted to colleges based on the color of their skin, rather than their actual talent that sets them apart from others because of Affirmative Action programs. Affirmative Action is defined as:…

    • 2888 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Supreme Court was presented with the case of Fischer vs. The University of Texas where Abigail Fisher was suing the University for discrimination in their affirmative action based admissions process. The Supreme Court voted 7-1 and ruled to send the case back to the lower courts for further review and put off making any final decisions to change the U.S. policy on affirmative action, a “longstanding but fragile societal compromise, one that forbids quotas but allows using race as one factor among many in the admissions process” (Laptik). Both articles discussed in length the constitutionality of the race-based admissions process as well as explaining the Supreme Court’s position on the matter. The justices made statements that explained that the admissions programs must be subject to strict scrutiny where the it can be determined that classification based on gender, race and ethnicity occurs for the sole purpose of creating a diverse student population. The programs that use affirmative action in public universities are being scrutinized to ensure that their methods are a means to an end and serve to create diversity only. This issue will come before the Supreme Court again in the future and there will most likely be a more permanent ruling on the matter.…

    • 580 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Affirmative action is the policy in which schools give priority to students who tend to suffer from discrimination. The policy was intended to give minorities equal rights in the admission process, however nowadays, it gives an unfair preference to one group of students, as opposed to being equal. This leads into the discussion of racial discrimination. Opponents of the law say that affirmative action gives minorities an unfair advantage over non-minorities. On the other side, proponents of the law say affirmative action is the way to reverse the negative effects caused by years of racism and discrimination before 1961. I believe that affirmative action is a good sentiment to the minority community, however, I think it’s the incorrect approach to fix the problem. You can’t solve the problem of discrimination by creating more discrimination.…

    • 644 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Bias in College Admissions

    • 2328 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Affirmative action has a great deal to do with the increase in minority enrollments in colleges and universities. "In the United States existing literature on affirmative action is not clear on its origin and the precise date when Affirmative Action is still a conundrum. Nevertheless most of the literature pin the origin of Affirmative Action… in 1935," (Antwi-Boasiako & Asagba, 2005, p. 734).…

    • 2328 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Affirmative action began out of necessity in order to benefit women and minorities because of the fact they had been disadvantaged for so many years. Although affirmative action has had its positives in helping minorities and women in the workplace, people’s views are evolving and we are seeing a significant drop in racism and feminism. With that in mind, there are some negative aspects with affirmative action today. For instance, business has suffered some repercussions. Affirmative action has forced some businesses to demand quotas and ratios of minorities and women in the workforce. In saying this, a less qualified applicant could possibly land a job in which they applied for simply because he or she is a minority, which results in preferential treatment.…

    • 680 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    essays

    • 261 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Special treatment is not equality nor is it diverse to use racial reasons for admitting students into schools.…

    • 261 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In a country the size of the United States, different races and different views on the equality of each race exist. Affirmative Action was a put in place by the Federal Government to help conserve the protection of rights towards minorities, whether it be determined by race or sex, during the time after the civil war when they people were still being discriminated upon based on these two aspects. Affirmative Action created a situation that allowed minorities a guaranteed spot within a workplace or a school, eliminating racism and allowing the minority to be recognized for its accomplishments. This may not have been the best solution for the problem but at the time it was put in place it was a necessary mean to try and correct an evil. Affirmative Action is still in place today even though it shouldn’t be. It creates discrimination by trying to get rid of it. Administration officers and CEO’s of companies feel the need to fill the percentage that they were given so they turn their backs on more qualified persons. With Affirmative Action, a white man may lose a chance to get a job or go to college, simply because the position must be filled with a black man, to meet the designated quota assigned. Also majorities look down on the minorities who get into colleges and get jobs over them by saying that they only got the job because someone just needed to get the spot filled so that they wouldn’t get shut down. This makes the minority feel worse about themselves because really don’t know if they got into the school or got the job based on their own merits or not. People in todays society want to make the most money possible so they will hire who they believe will do the best job whether it be an African American woman or a middle aged white man. Affirmative Action was a necessary step to correct the wrong doings of our ancestors, but is not the correct solution,…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The affirmative action has served its purpose, and therefore is no longer needed. A lot of people also say that because of the implementation of this law many people who are qualified for a specific position has lost that spot to someone who is…

    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays