Recently, affirmative action has been debated by certain ethnicities regarding
its validity.Affirmative action is the active effort to improve the employment or educational
opportunities of members of minority groups and women, according to Merriam-Webster.
Specifically, many people of Asian descent are vocally opposed to the policy
because they feel that they are excluded as a minority and have to accomplish
more than others to achieve the same goal.
“We have to work twice as hard to even be considered in an application
pool and even then, we are discriminated,” said senior Pragati M.
Many Asian Americans may feel that the system is unfair.
“I feel like I am at a huge disadvantage compared to other people [of
different ethnicities]. It seems like even if we have a high GPA, high SAT score,
and a lot of extracurriculars, […] it’s never enough. It seems like there’s never
a guarantee that you’re going to get in,” said senior Yeil K.
Advocates for affirmative action believe that this policy helps to
correct for the harm done to generations of African-Americans, Hispanics and
Native Americans who have faced systemic racism in college admissions.
“The main goal was to really get rid of prejudice and [to stop] denying
people access to things. Back in the ‘60s it stemmed from a lot of civil rights
turmoil. The early ‘60s were very gruesome,” said guidance counselor Christine
Natali.
Affirmative action promotes diversity in college communities. Although
some feel that the system is flawed, it may also offer cohesiveness to our
educational environment by introducing students to new cultures.
“I think that when [colleges] do their reporting on enrollments, they
must present some balance,” said Natali.
Regardless, some students don’t want affirmative action to be the deciding
factor in college acceptances. Instead, they hope that colleges consider only their
individual accomplishments.
“[College admissions] should be based on your academic profile, your
personality, and how you’ll contribute to the environment. Race should almost
be removed from the process,” said Pragati M.
Another common sentiment is that colleges should give higher priority to people
of lower-income families instead of people of certain ethnicities because it would
give more opportunities to those who did not have access to a quality
education.
“I feel like [affirmative action] could be more fair if it was
income-based. Affirmative action only benefits you for your race,” said senior
Hyun C.
Other students agree that financial status is a more effective method to determine
acceptance than ethnicity.
“I don’t want [affirmative action] to be something that I get angry over,
but I do feel like […] the amount of money and assets I have affects me as
well,” said senior Gabi D.
The debate as to whether or not affirmative action should be continued is
far from over.
“I think if we just took [affirmative action] away and looked at the individual,
their background and the way they lived their life, [the process] would be a
lot better for everybody,” said senior Taylor L.l
Christine K. and Ruth L.
Published November 2018