Affirmative Action

I think that affirmative action is okay when someone isn’t purposefully trying to use it. For instance in Florida, Texas and California there were public universities, “Whose “race-neutral” admissions policies were applauded by President Bush… for their efforts to achieve the goals of affirmative action.. Without actually using affirmative action.” (Time Staff Writers) In these policies they say that the schools will accept, “the top students in every high school, including those that are predominantly or entirely minority.” (Times Staff Writers) This is how it should be. If a student works hard and makes the grades to get into a good school then they should be accepted no matter what their skin color is. However, some people can see that as affirmative action but in reality it is being fair. What I don’t like is when people try to fight for affirmative action. When people fight for affirmative action they are basically asking someone to favor them. In their argument the people fighting for it will say they want to be treated equally. However, affirmative action isn’t being treated equally. That is creating a way in because of your race, sex, or ethnicity. It is asking to be accepted over someone else because of your race, ethnicity, or sex which in turn makes decision making unequal.
However, there needs to be a middle ground. There should be diversity within a college or private school. After all, “Students educated in a diverse university are better prepared for a diverse work force and for helping bring about… “One nation, indivisible.”” (One Nation, Indivisible) I think for schools that are post high school or private schools they shouldn’t even ask for race. This way they aren’t making their decisions based on race. All they are basing the person on is who they are in school and out. They will be judged on their hard work and dedication, or lack of, in and out of school rather than getting a different treatment because of the color of their skin, their ethnicity, or their sex. They won’t be accepted or declined because of their color, ethnicity, or sex. It shouldn’t matter what they are or where their family comes from. I understand that people think if there is a mixture of different races, ethnicity, or sex in a classroom there might be better discussions and that there will be a wider range of ideas. However, I’m not so sure that is true. If there are two people from the same area raised the same way they are going to have similar views on things. Just because they are black or white doesn’t change that they were raised around the same people with the same view points in the same area. If anything they should try to have people coming in from all different areas to their school in order to have better discussions rather than trying to get people of different color. However, there are schools that allow people with the top 10th percent of the high school will be accepted right away. I don’t agree with this either. Although the school could be doing all they can the student might not be prepared for the school that is accepting them and won’t succeed in the school. “While Top 10 plans successfully increase minority enrollment, some high school don’t prepare students well to meet the requirements of the more demanding majors in the university.” (One Nation, Indivisible) Therefore they should look at the schools they are coming from and their curriculum to make sure the students would succeed in the school. The reason people don’t get accepted to college is because they won’t be able to succeed and the college wants everyone to have an equal chance in succeeding. However, if they didn’t have to knowledge to succeed the college shouldn’t accept them and set them up for failure. I don’t believe affirmative action is always fair and when people are asking for it so they will be treated equally they are actually asking to be given a privilege over other people and be treated as and looked at more highly because of their race, ethnicity, or sex and I don’t think that is right either.