For this blog, I am going to go over the main arguments for why affirmative action is a good thing and should remain, along with some of the reasons it was created in the first place. Although it will seem biased, I’ll cover the opposing point of view in my next blog post. Some points may relate to affirmative action in the workforce and other places, but I am going to focus mainly on affirmative action relating to college admissions. When it comes to affirmative action, there are three main incentives: diversity, fairness, and equality.
One of the biggest reasons for affirmative action is that it helps ensure diversity on college campuses. Besides the education, one of the biggest benefits of going to college is the new experiences you have and the new perspectives you gain. College is a place to grow as a person and break out of your comfort zone, and it is hard to do so without diversity, which can increase your understanding of the world and expose you to viewpoints you might otherwise never realize. Because of this, many colleges actively publish and take pride in their diversity statistics, such as what percent of students are what race. Without affirmative action policies, there is no doubt that there would be less diversity at these colleges, and it would thus be a worse learning environment for students.
The second major argument for affirmative action is that it helps disadvantaged individuals. When it comes to money, minorities have a poverty rate almost twice as large as whites, giving them a huge extra obstacle to overcome. Although many colleges boast “need-blind admissions,” meaning they don’t consider an applicant’s financial situation as part of their situation, a lack of money can still hinder a student’s college application. For example, a student from a poor family will not have the money to spare to pay for an SAT/ACT tutor or class, which likely would have raised their score and thus their application. On the same note, they will be unable to hire people to review their essays and application as a whole (which does happen). They may not even be able to afford a flight to visit their desired college campus, which many colleges factor into their application as “demonstrated interest.” Affirmative action takes these hindrances into consideration and helps level the playing field for all levels of income.
Besides the lack of money, a person living in a poor area or neighborhood still has other obstacles to overcome. The high school they attend will also likely be poor, meaning the quality of teachers and therefore education is not as good. Also, that school’s guidance counselors may not be well-trained, and so any letters of recommendation they write will not be as good as those by a guidance counselor from a richer school. Finally, college admissions officers are more likely to spend more time reading an application from a well-known prestigious high school than a poor one. In this case, affirmative action helps take into account the circumstances of a person’s upbringing and background. For instance, if a minority student from a poor area did fairly well on his application with minimal resources and help, the college is willing to bet that with proper guidance and resources, the same student would perform exceptionally.
Finally, affirmative action promotes the equality of all races and ethnicities. Part of the reasoning behind the creation of affirmative action was to help make up for the centuries of oppression of minorities, specifically African Americans. The idea was that these minorities are still suffering some lingering effects of discrimination, and affirmative action’s goal was to put an end to any discrimination still existing. Especially within the workspace, affirmative action ensures that all candidates are treated equally and given equal opportunities to prove themselves. With college, affirmative action encourages minority students to pursue a higher education, and ends any stigma against minorities going to university.
The need for diversity, fairness, and equality are the main forces that have kept affirmative action in place for so long, and as long as affirmative action continues to uphold these values, it will likely endure into the future, barring something drastic happening.
Sources:
https://greengarageblog.org/20-principal-pros-and-cons-of-affirmative-action
I personally agree with and support affirmative action. It’s inevitable that applicants are on uneven playing field. However, affirmative action does it’s best to make the admissions process fair by giving minority applicants an extra boost, to make up for the obstacles they’ve had to face. I also really like the point you made about how diversity benefits every student attending the College.
I think affirmative action works very well in these cases since it does help people who are at a disadvantage and move us towards a more equal society. I also believe that even though colleges may not look at financial burdens as you said they may discriminate based on in and out of state knowing that out of state students will pay them more and then letting that student in over an in state one.
Affirmative action is certainly still needed to combat the inequalities that many minorities face. I have been learning about institutional discrimination in my LER class. Affirmative action helps to assuage the prejudices that are built into the infrastructures of society, specifically education, as you mentioned in your post.
There are times and places for Affirmative Action. Do I think it should be used all the time? No because that takes away opportunities for people that might’ve been working towards something for their whole lives and are extremely qualified. To give someone the opportunity just because of their background instead of someone extremely qualified is unfair.