Students at Berkeley share a perspective similar to that of most Americans. That is, they want "diversity without the zero-sum calculus that inevitably accompanies affirmative action." After the passage of Proposition 209, affirmative action was banned in California. There were to be no more strict quotas in the admission process for colleges. The effects of this, however, are less clear cut. While the first year following the proposition did mark a drop in minority attendance at the most impacted California schools, the less selective ones-- like Irvine or Riverside-- found spots for many of these individuals. In addition, the elimination of affirmative action has prompted the establishment of new outreach programs hoping to increase the eligibility of minority applicants. Programs like Proposition 3, which granted funding to support minorities from local schools, became increasing popular.
The debate continues between conservatives and liberals, with conservatives arguing that admission should be based upon merit and the liberals arguing that Proposition 209 denied opportunity.
Many believe that their denials to schools like UCLA were a "blessing in disguise" and go on to be completely satisfied with their experiences at Riverside or other schools. The remainder, however, remain appalled by the lack of equal opportunity that they face in the world of education.
Do you think affirmative action supports or bolsters the equality of rights? Which should be valued more by the government-- merit or diversity? Do programs such as Prop 3, which provide funding for minority outreach programs, make up for this "loss" of opportunity?
http://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/02/magazine/the-class-of-prop-209.html?pagewanted=all
I think that affirmative action supports equal rights in some ways (like providing educational opportunities for minorities); however, the way it is used creates an unclear base to act off of. In terms of education, merit should take priority (because that is what is most relevant to education); however, diversity should be a significant factor. While quotas are not the best way to implement such diversity, there should be a similar ratio of accepted minority to minority present within communities.
ReplyDeleteComing from an area like Burlingame, it can be hard to truly favor a system which places diversity above merit because of how often such a system would place us at a disadvantage in the college admissions process. However, so some extent programs providing equity for those who have less resources in their primary schooling years do have a place in California. Yet, while the focus seems to be equality, these programs should really be looked at for what they are: equity. They give everyone equity and judge them by how they used the resources available to them in the 18 years before they've applied to colleges.
ReplyDeleteAffirmative action inhibits equal rights, especially in terms of racial equality. Within the college admissions project, race should be entirely omitted. Although affirmative action is advertised as a method of creating racial diversity within higher education institutions, in practice it actually furthers the racism it's meant to combat. Similar to need-based financial aid, these institutions should be blind to race during the admissions process, and should instead focus on students' actual achievements.
ReplyDeleteI believe that affirmative action hinders equal rights. People should be accepted into college based on their merit rather than their diversity. With a system like this, the admissions are uncertain who to admit and leads to even more racism. Even though this proposition may be seen as helpful, it is actually the opposite.
ReplyDeleteI understand why colleges want diversity, however I don't think affirmative action is the way to do it. College admissions should be based off of educational and extra curricular background rather than race. If an ethnic kid is excepted over a caucasian student who has a better educational background only because the college wants diversity, then it can be considered racist against the caucasian student.
ReplyDeleteAffirmative action only bolsters equality if utilized by the correct group. Underprivileged minorities need affirmative action in order to reach the opportunities that other groups have. We, students in a wealthy community, have a hard time seeing this because poverty is not as prevalent in our area and we see it as other people taking opportunities away from us. Merit should be the primary criteria for judging students, but secondary criteria should involve both race and wealth. Affirmative action was created to help minorities who have less opportunities, but a child from a wealthy African American family should not be valued over someone o the same race, but from a poorer background.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Cuyler that there is a bias when we analyze this issue, since we coming from Burlingame, affirmative action programs give us a clear disadvantage compared to not having it. As most of the people said above, I believe that merit should carry more weight than diversity. It can be very unfair to white students to be rejected by schools who instead accept other children who have a much worse resume than them, just because of their race. However, something must be done to help the minorities. If greater steps were taken to improve the education of these minorities before applying for college (so K-12), they would have a much better chance at competing with the rich white kids as far as merit is concerned.
ReplyDeleteI believe that affirmative action can help support equality when used by oppressed groups and minorities. Merit is more important than diversity because in order for us to achieve racial equality, everyone needs to be treated equally. It is harder for minorities to succeed though because they do not have the opportunities that privileged students have. I believe that outreach programs are helpful, but are not enough.
ReplyDeleteI think that affirmative action should be used until we create a more equal secondary and primary school system. Students are a result of their teachings, and therefore until we can create a more equal school system in which everybody across the country is provided the same experiences, regardless of gender or race, then we need to use affirmative action to allow minorities who did not receive an equal education to have access to the same college opportunities.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Nathan in the sense that if affirmative action is enforced, students can have equal educational opportunities, and then merit can be distinguished easier. This is because if you compare different ethnic groups solely based on merit, their merit can differ due to the lack of consistency in what they get exposed to. Once on an equal playing field, analyzing merit can be easier because we know that students of all racial and gender groups have equal educational access, thus being able to then judge merit on individual motivation and effort.
DeleteIt is my belief that to achieve equality we must be treated fairly, not necessarily the same. This means that affirmative action, even minor affirmative action, is useful and should be utilized by universities. Often times a minority student will be as accomplished, if not more, than their well-off counterpart. Giving them a chance over a white, well-off student who will undoubtedly have many other opportunities in their life to succeed, may be the difference between poverty and success for minority students. Of course, I think you can only sacrifice so much merit for diversity. A minimal amount of this sacrifice is ok, in my opinion, but it should never go too far. I do think that the outreach programs make up for the "loss."
ReplyDeleteNice reference to recent topics. Those against affirmative action often spout statistics that say students of color that gain acceptance without affirmative action do better than those that gain admission with it. Also, schools are still employing less formal methods to achieve some diversity.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it is necessary to have affirmative action with strict quotas, but I would encourage schools to choose students of different backgrounds to support diversity across campuses. I don't believe that schools should just choose students with the highest test scores and GPAs, because once students enter the real world, they will se how diverse and different it can be from college. Therefore, I support organizations that raise money for minorities to go to college.
ReplyDeleteI believe affirmative action is helpful and necessary in some cases. I think that the goal of affirmative action should be to assure that the ratio between whites and minorities applying to schools is more or less accurately represented in enrollment. "Diversity" in general is a sort of vague goal, and I think that affirmative action programs sometimes understate why diversity is important in the first place. It is hard for minorities to succeed in America because of the institutionalized racism and the general social racial bias that exists in our country. If a minority grows up in a low-income community, it can be even more difficult to achieve success because their schools will undoubtedly be inferior. Affirmative action aims to "control" for the many obstacles placed against minorities.
ReplyDeleteI believe affirmative action is helpful and necessary in some cases. I think that the goal of affirmative action should be to assure that the ratio between whites and minorities applying to schools is more or less accurately represented in enrollment. "Diversity" in general is a sort of vague goal, and I think that affirmative action programs sometimes understate why diversity is important in the first place. It is hard for minorities to succeed in America because of the institutionalized racism and the general social racial bias that exists in our country. If a minority grows up in a low-income community, it can be even more difficult to achieve success because their schools will undoubtedly be inferior. Affirmative action aims to "control" for the many obstacles placed against minorities.
ReplyDeleteI believe affirmative action is helpful and necessary in some cases. I think that the goal of affirmative action should be to assure that the ratio between whites and minorities applying to schools is more or less accurately represented in enrollment. "Diversity" in general is a sort of vague goal, and I think that affirmative action programs sometimes understate why diversity is important in the first place. It is hard for minorities to succeed in America because of the institutionalized racism and the general social racial bias that exists in our country. If a minority grows up in a low-income community, it can be even more difficult to achieve success because their schools will undoubtedly be inferior. Affirmative action aims to "control" for the many obstacles placed against minorities.
ReplyDeleteI believe that affirmative action is unfair to students that deserve to get into a school based on merit, but are rejected in favor of a student just to fill a certain quota. Any college can provide a good education, depending on how far the student goes to take this education. The purpose of a student applying to and being accepted to a college is so that she/he find the right match for their learning style and ability. Artificially placing minority students in colleges that are considered "better" may actually hurt their chances of success because what they are able to do and what they need from their education is not offered to where they are going. Programs such as Prop 3 surely make up for this loss of opportunity by providing minority students with the chances to succeed in high school and then be accepted to a school based on their own developed merit.
ReplyDeleteI believe that affirmative action is unfair to students that deserve to get into a school based on merit, but are rejected in favor of a student just to fill a certain quota. Any college can provide a good education, depending on how far the student goes to take this education. The purpose of a student applying to and being accepted to a college is so that she/he find the right match for their learning style and ability. Artificially placing minority students in colleges that are considered "better" may actually hurt their chances of success because what they are able to do and what they need from their education is not offered to where they are going. Programs such as Prop 3 surely make up for this loss of opportunity by providing minority students with the chances to succeed in high school and then be accepted to a school based on their own developed merit.
ReplyDeleteA major topic of discussion is equality between men and woman and so on, equality is giving everyone the equal chance, it would not be unfair to take in students that don't qualify over student's that do qualify and work hard, furthermore there are programs and scholarships that are offered to aid students, if we want equality to truly prevail then everyone should be judged based on the quality of their work
ReplyDeleteI think that affirmative action promotes artificial racial equality rather than genuinely helping minorities. I do think the government should value both merit and diversity, because a persons background and their educational opportunities based on their background should be valued. If we want our society to progress toward equality, we must not make accommodations for minorities but rather assist them to obtain genuine equality that will last whether affirmative action is used or not.
ReplyDeleteAffirmative action seems like a proposition that has good intentions, but in practice can lead to more inequality. Merit should be taken into account in the admissions process as well, as getting into a prestigious school such as a UC's are why some kids try their best in school. By not letting them in when they have the grades but not the race, they are put at a disadvantage as well. Support of Prop 3 sounds like a much better approach than bringing back Prop 209 as it gets to the root of the inequality that is present in the education system.
ReplyDeleteWhile affirmative action does provide the minorities with opportunity they previously did not have, it takes away opportunities from those that could have had it. Not to say that affirmative action is bad thing, rather affirmative action has all the good intention but may be lacking in the means. A person entering into college should be accepted based on their merit, however some will argue that the majority race will be more accepted since their education is usually much better than that of the minority hence making affirmative action a good thing. While prop 209 has yet to fully explain itself in the eyes of this next generation the intention it had was meaningful however whether or not it will bring results that both sides of the table will accept is still to be determined.
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