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Essay Affirmative Action Should Be Abolished

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Recommended: Arguments for and against affirmative action

Many argue whether Affirmative Action is something that should be present in higher education systems. It is not something that should be disputed about. Affirmative Action should be abolished throughout the country for a numerous extent of reasons. This is a serious item that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. In one of the articles we read, Terry Swenson says, “Minority students don’t want to be there for the benefit of the majority population, nor do they want to be called upon as the representatives of their race every time the topic comes up in class discussion.” This proves the point that there is no direct benefit from Affirmative Action. Many think that it is promoting diversity, but these minority students don’t want to be seen as the token representative of their race. They are even against Affirmative Action somewhat themselves. As a minority in this country, they become singled out in many circumstances because of this. Many say that if they are going to ban Affirmative Action, they also need to ban legacies as well. Robyn Pennacchia states her feelings by saying, “Any state that bans Affirmative Action in …show more content…

In an article by Allie Bidwell it states, “The admissions policy was based on 150 points, and it awarded points based on items such as race (20 points), athletic ability (20 points), depth of essay (up to 3 points), leadership and service (up to 5 points), and personal achievement (up to 5 points).” If you interpret this, minorities are a few steps ahead of non-minorities. They are already ahead of the race, and they haven’t demonstrated their academic abilities. This puts non-minorities at a major set-back when it comes to the college admission process. Along with putting non-minorities at a set-back, it also sets the minorities up for failure. If they are ahead of the rest of the field already, they will feel that they can put off studies and become

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In “Net (Race) Neutral: An Essay on How GPA + (reweighted) SAT - Race = Diversity,” Christine Goodman illustrates the opposing viewpoints in regards to the racial discriminatory efforts by the college institutions to help diversify the incoming freshman class. With this, Goodman provides statistics and opinions of experts on the matter, which includes comparison of such discriminatory acts against other institutions. To begin, she brings up an enlightening, yet controversial court case decision: Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin (2013). This court case demonstrates significance to this topic because it counteracts a previous court case, Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), which, “upheld diversity as a compelling interest that would justify narrowly

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Katznelson’s argument that affirmative action policies were enacted with purposeful, deliberate discrimination is convincing. Namely, he considers the historical context that would have shaped Americans at the time and swayed their opinions. For example, Katznelson references the Civil War and the end of slavery, and how these events shaped the attitudes of key players like the Southern Democrats, which would then result in the faulty policies that perpetuated affirmative action’s favoritism of whites. His evidence is sufficient as well. Katznelson highlights the trend of Southern Democrats interfering in affirmative action policies and the footholds they had in specific acts.

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In the autobiography Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez the author employs the theme of higher education to defend his views on affirmative action. He shares his views and experiences on the issue as a minority alienated in a majority white American society in the 1960’s-70’s. Although he was a well–educated Mexican American, his ethnicity classified him as a minority. In college, despite being anti-affirmative action, Rodriguez still reaped the benefits of affirmative action. He believed that affirmative action should not be not be determined by race, but student’s intellectual ability to complete college.

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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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Is affirmative action still necessary for guaranteeing equal access to educational opportunities at elite universities and graduate schools? Should admissions decisions be based solely on academic criteria and merit? Key Words: affirmative action, Grutter V. Bollinger, and diversity. Grutter V. Bollinger Research Paper 3 Affirmative Action in Education Affirmative action was formed more than fifty years ago.

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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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According to another author from Business NH Magazine, Brenda Lett, she states “We are held back, and hold ourselves back, by deciding not to work collectively to address the lie of superiority and inferiority based on skin color.” (Mowry 61). Students race matters. If people did not notice about their race, is like pretending not to see the consequences for this students. They knew that they are “the other” before they were called “the other”.

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In the article, “UT’s Affirmative Action Policy Is Unconstitutional,” Daniel Hung argues that affirmative action should not be in the college admission process. Hung explains the Supreme Court’s rulings of Gutter v. Bollinger and, more specifically, Fisher v. The University of Texas. He also criticizes the UT’s affirmative action policy and why the Supreme Court should rule against UT. Daniel introduces the article by focusing on Fisher v. The University of Texas.

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Sure it creates diversity, but a student who is more deserving to go to a prestigious school shouldn’t be denied a spot because he isn’t a minority. Bakke won the case and a spot in the university, and the Supreme Court invalidated the school’s special admissions program. Now all students are equally likely to be accepted into a state

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This particular quota system would disable student compatibility, increase grade inflation, and destroy the integrity of higher education itself. The best alternative would be to have a colorblind system created by based solely on enterprise and merit. Affirmative action programs state the of poverty as a main factor individual's educational progress. Thus occurring, students coming from financially stable backgrounds are more likely to have a thought in admission acceptance. Brown v. Board of Education engraved its way for significant opportunities in our society for both non-colored people and minorities by pursuing

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At least four Supreme Court justices believe that affirmative action is unconstitutional. Chief Justice John Roberts has said that “the way to stop discriminating on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race”. This viewpoint offers no differentiation between “race consciousness” and “racism”, but is a quite common opinion. This sort of viewpoint is what may drive America towards class-based rather than race-based affirmative action. Because of the disparities in income and wealth, minorities are as likely as whites to benefit under a class-based policy.

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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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According to the dominant theory the affirmative action was firstly introduced to deal with two types of social disruption in the 1960s as campus protests and urban riots in the North. However, this article is based on different theory as dominant theory's empirical evidence is limited. It examines the initial reason for advent of race-conscious affirmative action in 17 undergraduate institutions in the United States. And according to the research this article concludes that there were two waves that contributed to affirmative action: 1) first wave in the early 1960s introduced by northern college administrators 2) second wave in the late 1960s introduced as a response to the protests of campus-based students. This article will help me to establish the main reasons for introduction of race-conscious affirmative action in undergraduate

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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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