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Arguments Against Affirmative Action

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Affirmative Action
The use of race as a factor in the process of college admissions has been and continues to be a hotly debated topic. Every high school that has taken a basic civics class has most likely heard of affirmative action. Even if they aren’t entirely familiar with the name “affirmative action” many are familiar with the goal of these programs whether they know it or not. Affirmative action is a Government (or private) program designed to redress historic injustices against specific groups by making special efforts to provide members of these groups with access to educational and employment opportunities (“Affirmative Action: Crash Course Government and Politics #32.”). Although much of what we hear about affirmative action as high …show more content…

Although companies and institutions that receive federal funding were required to have affirmative action programs, many believe that quota programs were the wrong way to go about doing it. With quota programs, there was the potential that minority candidates would be picked over more qualified candidates simply for the sake of meeting the admissions quota. Since the passing of E.O 11246, in order to be qualified for the benefits of affirmative action, one must meet two requirements. First, one has to be a member of a group that has been historically underrepresented at that place of employment or academic institution; also, one must otherwise be qualified for the job or enrollment (West). The problem with quota programs is by admitting minority students to a limited pool of positions just to fill a quota, over those who are more qualified, they violate the second requirement of affirmative action since they would not “otherwise be qualified” for enrollment over the other students. Because of this, in 1978, after receiving his second rejection letter from the University of California Davis Medical School, a man by the name of Allan Bakke, who was a very qualified candidate, sued the U.C Davis on the basis that their quota program violated his rights. The court decided that quota programs were a failed means of upholding affirmative action and ruled that it was a violation of the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment. In the end, U.C Davis and many other schools ended their quota programs in favor of a more holistic means of assessing candidates in which race did play a factor --thus still adhering to the affirmative action laws-- but not as severe as in quota programs (Colonial Williamsburg’s Nutshell History: Affirmative

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We have seen in the past four decades race-based affirmative action programs that have arisen and fitfully developed through judicial challenges. As in most case, the best of intentions do not always lead to positive outcomes. Nothing could be more apt in describing the perilous position we have bestowed upon millions of minority students who have been admitted to higher learning institutions under the auspices of diversity. As illustrated by the standardized test and GPA numbers in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, the students admitted to the medical school of UC-Davis under their affirmative action policy were extraordinarily less qualified when compared to the student body as a whole. This not only unfairly displaced white and Asian students who would have otherwise been admitted to those spot on merit but also places those underperforming students in an environment in which they are destined to fail.

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Part III applies the Court’s precedent to the University’s affirmative action policy and concludes that the policy violates the Equal Protection Clause. Part IV examines the impact of Fisher II on existing affirmative action policies and concludes that the Court’s holding will be narrowly crafted and thus negligibly impact other policies. In addition, Part IV asserts that the Court’s affirmative action jurisprudence should be fundamentally altered because it fails to adequately guide lower courts, legislatures, and litigants concerning the permissible scope of affirmative action policies. As discussed in Part IV, a more effective—and honest—approach would be to acknowledge that: (1) diversity is an essential part of ensuring inclusion in higher education and the workplace; (2) remedying past discrimination is a compelling state interest; and (3) in limited circumstances race may be a dispositive factor in the admissions or hiring process. The Court’s current framework, although well-intentioned, ignores these realities and tries to quantify the role of race in admissions – a task that is impossible and

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As Ratana explained, “It is unconstitutional for any institution to employ a racial quota under the Equal Protection Clause. Also, state laws do not supersede the law of the land. Affirmative action just factors in race as one of the many criteria that institutions use in the consideration of who to admit into colleges and employ”. One of the main purposes of the Affirmative action policy was to create a more diverse community. However, some universities have argued by saying that the ban of the policy is so that they can ensure a diverse community.

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'Affirmative Action Policy Is Unconstitutional' By Daniel Hung

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This law also ensures diversity on campus, and on top of that affirmative action is still used for the remaining students that are not at the top 10% of their class (Hung). Evidently, race plays a crucial role in the admission decisions. Hung claims that race shouldn’t play such a big role in the admission process because it is considered discrimination. He supports this argument by comparing the average GPA and SAT scores of those students that were granted admission but were not in the top 10 percent of their class. African Americans had the lowest averaged scores, followed by Hispanics, then whites, and then Asian Americans.

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The main precedent that has stuck with the court from Bakke to now Fisher is that a diverse student body is a compelling enough interest for a university to pursue. This goal is to be carried out in a narrowly tailored manner which the court has accepted as a race-conscious admissions program. The program is deemed constitutional on the basis that it only uses race as a plus factor in the admissions process. These programs, however, run in stark contrast to the provisions set forth in the Equal Protection Clause; in which the state is not allowed to treat individuals differently based on the category of race. The race-conscious admissions program albeit better than a pure quota system still uses race as a crucial factor.

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Within today’s society individuals struggle to view one another as allies, rather people categorize other’s as being enemies. This sense of individuals being suspicious of one another is not a concept that is shocking to society. For instance, during the time of the founding father’s established the United States Constitution, there were two groups: the anti federalist and the federalist. The anti-federalist opposed the ratification of the Constitution because these people were eerie of a strong federalized government that infringed on individuals right’s. As the federalist supported the Constitution and advocated that the document protected individuals from government regulations.

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Affirmative Action has lowered the standards of colleges and job requirements to help meet the requirements. Perazzo (2001) provides a good example of the lower standard, “At UCLA Law School in 1994, a black applicant with a college G.P.A. between 2.5 and 3.5, and an LSAT score between 60 and 90, had a 61 percent chance of admission. The corresponding rates for similarly qualified Asians and whites were 7 percent and 1 percent, respectively.” It is time to move the standards upward and allow all people to compete for college admission or jobs and use race or gender as a tiebreaker.

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After getting rejected from the University of California Medical School twice, Allan Bakke filed suit against the school, claiming that he experienced improper “reverse discrimination”. The University of California Medical School reserves 16% of all admission places for minorities. However, Bakke’s qualifications, including his college GPA and test scores, surpassed all of those in the minority division. This being said, he declared that he was rejected from the college purely based on the fact that he was white (Britannica). Affirmative action, which is a set of procedures and systems designed to increase the amount of minorities in numerous areas, is seen in many places.

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Why We Should Be Banned From College Admissions

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People always contemplate whether college admissions are fair. Some schools believe that admissions should be completely merit-based whereas other schools believe that admissions should be primarily merit-based but allow racial preferences to be favored over others with the same credentials. Racial preferences in admissions are one of the most common talked about topics among education in the Supreme Court. The plan for college admissions was to incorporate affirmative action, which is “the policy of favoring members of a disadvantaged group who are perceived to suffer from discrimination within a culture.” Many people think that affirmative action should be banned from college admissions to give each student a fair chance.

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Affirmative action has become obsolete in today’s society. Affirmative action is an active effort to improve the employment or educational opportunities of members of minority groups and women; also: a similar effort to promote the rights or progress of other disadvantaged persons (Merriam-Webster, 2011). Today’s affirmative action will demoralize the very concepts that the policy was implemented to uphold: those of equality for all people regardless of color and discrimination. This policy supports racial multiplicity at the price of distinction, impartiality and experience; it also follows the line of reverse discrimination and sexual bias against white men (Reyna, Tucker, Korfmacher, & Henry, 2005).

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Affirmative action policies command attention because they tap into basic debates about fairness. As a nation, we say we are committed to fairness, but our history of achieving fairness for all individuals, regardless of race, ethnicity or gender, has been far from perfect. Any policy that reminds us of the difference between

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