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Arguments Against Affirmative Action

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Affirmative action is one of the more complicated issues in relation to college acceptances, as it was intended to remove the injustice of racial discrimination, by assisting racial groups who historically faced discrimination due to their skin color. Historically, some college campuses preferred white candidates to black candidates, leading to a very narrow minded, one dimensional viewpoint on many topics, especially controversial topics such as race. By ensuring diversity, forming echo chamber-like environments in workplaces or college campuses. Due to this, factors such as race, gender, and background are now factors used in determining a candidate’s worth.
Though entirely well intentioned, assisting one side came with debilitating another. …show more content…

By establishing quotas or limits to how many people per racial group can be accepted into an establishment or university, it indirectly limits the amount of well qualified people that can be accepted, regardless of race. Along with this, expectations for the more “privileged” races were raised. In order to consider someone of Asian descent equal to someone of Hispanic descent, the Asian candidate must have a substantially higher score on the SAT, disproving the idea that affirmative action assists in working towards showcasing equal ability between races. Though affirmative action policies claim to work against stereotypes, it does the exact opposite as the action of implying that all Asians come from the same background, or all African Americans come from the same background is stereotyping within itself. Likewise, the groups being covered by affirmative action fail to recognize Asians as minorities, due to the unfortunate “model minority” stereotype being put on them. Quotas being put on Asians in turn assisted Caucasians, “the largest group competing with Chinese-Americans” (Stacy J. Lee), effectively putting another minority group at a disadvantage instead of assisting them. Although many advocates believe affirmative action is entirely benign in its endeavors, it is more detrimental in terms of establishing a system based off of merit, acting in a way that proves we are

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1629 Words | 7 Pages

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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1505 Words | 7 Pages

The book Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White by Frank H. Wu affected my self-view by really putting into perspective my role in issues. The biggest impact of this would have to be in the affirmative action issue. Prior to reading Yellow, I had not really thought much about affirmative action since it had not affected my personal life. In Frank Wu’s discussion of affirmative action however, he reveals how affirmative action is not just a black white issue, but something that many Asians are also concerned about. Even through the experiences I have had in the past couple years with topics about Asian Americans, the discussion of affirmative action is not something that has been brought up very often.

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508 Words | 3 Pages

Affirmative action in the United States I believe that affirmative action negatively affects on both minorities and majorities. From a minority’s perspective, the idea that minorities can receive benefits from others due to their race, ethnicity, or gender can cause them to feel segregated against anyway. Since the term, ‘minority,’ no longer applies to every females or person of color today, female students or students of color with affluent backgrounds may feel segregated and devalued even when they did not get any special benefit from affirmative action policies. Majorities, in this case, male or white students, will also get discouraged because this can be regarded as a form of reverse discrimination, especially with racial affirmative action programs.

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889 Words | 4 Pages

According to Peter Thiel and David Sacks, "preferences hurt poor whites and even many Asians" (Source G). Whites and Asians, traditionally majority groups in college enrollment, have a disadvantage if affirmative action policies exist. Under affirmative action, these two groups must overcome an additional obstacle they cannot control: their race. As equality applies to all groups, this added disadvantage that whites and Asians face reflects the reverse racism created by affirmative action policies, an inequality unfavorable toward whites and Asians. The inequality becomes even more apparent in cartoons portraying affirmative action as a means through which minorities cheat the admissions system, doing so by utilizing affirmative action as a shortcut to the ultimate goal of admission (Source H).

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845 Words | 4 Pages

“Affirmative Action may not be a perfect system, but there should be no doubt that it has endangered many successes. It has opened the doors of America’s most elite educational institutions to minority students, granting them unprecedented opportunities” (Ogletree 12). Thanks to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson a policy that prohibits employment and education discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, and sex is offered today to those who suffer from said discriminations (A Brief History). Affirmative action has opened abundant openings for minorities, allowing the cycle of going to college to be passed down generations and provided job opportunities that otherwise would not be considered by most. Affirmative

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709 Words | 3 Pages

Odd Thomas wasn't as odd a film as I thought it would be going in. But is a very fun twist on the "I see dead people and have to help trope". Which is both nice and refreshing. Odd Thomas is also an adaptation of a book of the same name by horror/suspense author Dean Koontz an author I like and feel guilty about for not reading more of his work. Odd Thomas plays out more like a detective film than it does as a horror film.

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793 Words | 4 Pages

When Chinese Honor Society applications were open, I heard countless people saying “Oh I won’t get in because I’m Asian”. When looking at colleges, people say “Yeah, but I’m Asian”. Why is this? The answer is simple. Colleges need to vary the diversity in their acceptances, which subsequently results in affirmative action for Hispanics and African Americans, denying Asian Americans of any privilege due to the untrue stereotype of them being the ‘model minority’.

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1508 Words | 7 Pages

Across the board, equality in America is a heavily debated topic. Whether it is on the subject of job opportunities or police brutality, equality is understood to a utopic idea and that is suppressed by an ingrained social ideology that some people are “superior” to others. The case of education is no different. There are many factors in education that contribute to an overall imbalance in the system and one of the more debated factors would be the implementation of affirmative action in the college application process and the effects of this policy on the students affected by it, both majority or minority students. Affirmative action has had a negative impact on student education, more so on minority students.

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1011 Words | 5 Pages

The fear is that without this policy, diversity will not always happen if left up to chance. It is true that schools and other organizations have discriminated against women and people of other race. This problem created an unfair advantage for males of the superior race. Supporters also charge that without affirmative action African Americans would have a more difficult process of being admitted into prestigious and predominately white universities (Hopkins, 2010). Affirmative Action allows minorities to reflect different areas of study and work that otherwise would have never been considered.

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718 Words | 3 Pages

As a topic of conversation that has consumed American politics for decades, affirmative action has served as America’s letter of apology to minorities that have faced such harsh discrimination through the years. Affirmative action serves as a historical turning point in the United States, and has closely addressed the issues that racial, class, and gender minorities have faced for centuries. However, there is immense controversy that comes with the idealistic concept of affirmative action. While many researchers find it to be beneficial, others view this concept as erroneous.

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564 Words | 3 Pages

Although Asian Americans were “excluded from schools based on derogatory racial stereotypes and inferiority” (site pg. 6). Asian Americans have faced many other issues when it comes to their educational experience. Perhaps the most far-reaching issue that Asian Americans still face is actually the most ironic. In the past, Asian Americans were fighting mechanisms of prejudice, exclusion, and institutional discrimination that prevented them from even attending certain schools; therefore, receiving a fair education. But recently, Asian Americans have been and continue to be touted as the one ethnic minority group that has successfully overcome racism and achieved the American dream, primarily through education.

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952 Words | 4 Pages

Affirmative action makes more college students aware and accepting of other ethnicities. Now some argue that affirmative action promotes discrimination. While this may be true in some cases, most research states that affirmative action decreases racism and discrimination by having multiple ethnic groups at colleges. By having multiple ethnic groups, it promotes equality and allows students to accept all cultures as equal

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1661 Words | 7 Pages

The intention of affirmative action, although controversial, is to assist those in minority groups from being discriminated against in order to achieve certain positions. However, it can be argued to be in fact just reverse discrimination. Some places in which affirmative action exists is in the workforce, the government, as well as the educational system. A problem with the idea is that although a person might be more qualified, they might fail to get land the spot because they aren’t in the minority.

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1734 Words | 7 Pages

Throughout many of the affirmative action legal cases, one of the main arguments from proponents is that it is necessary in order to right the wrongs of past racial discrimination. Some say that affirmative action is justified because even though white applicants may be more qualified, this is only because they did not face the same hardships as their minority counterparts (Rachels, Ethics, 1973).  Many argue if we do not integrate disadvantaged minorities into mainstream social institutions, they will continue to suffer the discrimination that has plagued our country for centuries and that this is detrimental to not only the minorities but also society as a whole (Anderson, 2002, 1270–71). However, the debate has recently shifted to the benefits of diversity in the classroom which the Supreme Court has affirmed as being a positive thing

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1474 Words | 6 Pages

Climate Change – How important is awareness of the causes of climate change? I am interested in this topic because it is one of the most important problems we face today. Climate change affects not only to humans but also to all living things. Global Health becomes worse and worse because of the change, and it is now significantly be seen. Global warming, the ozone layers being damaged, deforesting, rivers drying up, unbalancing ecosystem and different kinds of pollution lead to certain climate change.

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