A Further Look at Affirmative Action

By: Jason Cunningham

    Affirmative action is a practice used to make sure that there is adequate representation of a minority group within an educational classroom or in the job workforce. Yes, this is a very generic definition for affirmative action, however it fits well within the context of this article. On both sides, some liberals and conservatives are firmly against the practice and believe that it encourages lower standards for minorities.

    When some people think of affirmative action, they see a African American student getting into law or medical school over a more qualified, Caucasian candidate. What about the women who are encouraged through such programs to seek jobs or choose academic fields that are traditionally dominated by men including engineering and medicine? The perception of who benefits from affirmative active is as blurry as the faces of those on welfare.

     We all benefit from affirmative action even if we are not willing to admit it. In America, there are many ideas and experiences that help shape us as a country based on our education, religious, and cultural experiences. We learn from one another through school, the workplace, our writings, artwork, and music. Forty years ago, that statement may have  been considered nothing more than silly rhetoric. How boring and uncouth would the country be if we did anything to reverse the progress already made. If we are serious about making America equal, then our resources should be used to promote diversity as well as give opportunity where none would be given. It is just as important to have African Americans or Latinos at Harvard University, as it is at Historically Black Colleges.

    People in some respect have been misled into assuming that minorities who got in school over them with a lesser GPAs was solely due to affirmative action. This is not always the case. Maybe the school was looking for a more, well rounded person and that was not you. All you did was study, while this other minority, who caused you to be disenfranchised,  worked two jobs and volunteered at a nursing home! George W. Bush attended Hanover in Connecticut, one of the country's finest preparatory school for high school, but his GPA nor SAT was not automatic for Yale University. Which brings me to another related topic, why is college legacy admittance not catching the same flak as affirmative action? A year ago, I participated in a national online survey and one of the topics was affirmative action. I gave a true life example of young African American female who had a 3.57 GPA, attended honors classes in a New York City Public High School with a 1275 SAT, and was eventually accepted into Yale University. The SAT average at Yale usually hovers around 1485. Every last one of the individuals took the bait and said she should not have been admitted. The female we happen to be discussing was actually my ex-girlfriend, so the information can be verified as truth. I asked, "Then what about President Bush with his 1206 SAT score, he got in." Needless to say that ended the discussion.

 In order to further generate progress, affirmative action will be needed for at least another three maybe four generations. The detrimental mayhem caused by the lack of education for more than four hundred years did not become completely erased as the ink dried from the signing of the Civil Right Amendments. However minorities including women must take advantage of these opportunity, improve themselves and make others aware of these doors that stand open for us to walk through.

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