NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
After about thirty years of implementation, affirmative action is losing the foothold that it has in our society. Many debates have arisen with the passing of proposition 209, a ban on affirmative action in California. Washington has even passed an initiative modeled from proposition 209, and more states are now starting to debate the issue. The ban has become a reality in major universities in California and Texas. The results show a significant decrease in the enrollment of minorities. Thus the question arises, what should we do with affirmative action?
Specifically, should public universities follow affirmative action in the enrollment of students? The University of Georgia was ordered by federal courts to admit its first black students on January 6, 1961. Since then, segregation has been abolished in all areas of the United States. The ending of affirmative action brings many new fears as to whether this desegregation will continue.
There are fears that schools will decide to not admit minority students at all. Then the community will regress to where it was back in 1961. There is no doubt that affirmative action has helped minority students to be accepted into college. The question arises though, is it the best program? Many anti-affirmative action proponents are crying "reverse discrimination. " They are saying that color should have absolutely no part in the enrollment of students at all.
Many white students are angry at the notion of any preferential treatment based on color towards the enrollment of students. I was angry at this notion at first, but then I realized that colleges have always been using preferential treatment for many other things other than race. Athletes, musicians, children of alumni, and veterans are all given preferential treatment for enrollment, and for valid reasons too. Then, is it fair to enroll people based on their ethnicity? Well, it depends on how much people value diversification in the classroom. Diversification is a value I appreciate in a school.
I would love to have more diverse classrooms here at school. From the few experiences I have had, diverse people have greatly broadened my mind. While living in my cultural nutshell, I had the opinion that all foreigners look at America as the best country in the world, and envy Americans. It was not until I talked to people from Israel, Italy, France, Germany, Russia, and Bulgaria, that I realized how egotistical I was. A testimony from Romance Gudeman at Macalester College on diversification in one of her classes proceeds: In this class the whole was greater than the sum of its parts. It was the collectivity of students that exponentially enhanced class discussion and contributed to better research for every member of the class.
For example, the U. S. students of color helped us interpret and analyze readings pertaining to biculturalism. The Latino students helped a European-American design a study of learning at a Spanish immersion school in St. Paul. A Turkish international student made valuable contributions when we discussed another student's research on the significance of gendered features of the Japanese language. (Turkish lacks the kinds of grammatical gender marking found in Japanese and other languages spoken by class members. ) Students with multiple cultures or origin introduced challenging perspectives on issues of cultural identity in the United States and on the process of cultural acquisition and enactment.
All students were able to contribute cogent original ideas and interpretations because their rich variety of experiences in varying geographical and (multi-) cultural contexts created opportunities for nuanced comparative analyses. Classroom encounters of these kinds did not occur at "quality" educational institutions when I was a student of social science. Even when occasional non-European-Americans were in my classes, they were there to learn Western models and methods, not to teach and collaborate. What a lost opportunity for everyone -- students, faculty, and researchers!
A situation could arise where a university had to choose between me and a slightly less qualified person who is a minority. I would not mind them choosing that person over me. As long as that person meets the basic university academic standards, and the university wants more diversification. This may seem like a harsh reality to some people, but think of a different situation. The other person is an athlete. Athletes really benefit the schools by bringing in money, and many other things.
If the university chose an athlete over me, I would not even question their move. An Asian-American high school student Amy S. Cheung describes the paradox that schools face with enrollment. "Looking at them as a race and giving them benefits because of that race doesn't make any sense. But I do not want to go into a classroom where everyone is Asian. What I like about living in California is that you get to know different types of people. That's one thing that's good about America" (Bronner California's).
She does not see fairness in the admittance of people based solely on their race. Yet, she does not want a homogeneous campus either. To create heterogeneous campuses, schools are admitting minority students who do not meet basic qualifications. Current affirmative action plans require the admittance of an amount of minority students that coincides with their percentage in the local population. If there are not enough qualified students to meet this percentage then the schools "should initiate affirmative steps to remedy the situation" (DOL).
Some of the measures they recommend, relating to the work force but similar to education are as follows: (a) A recruitment program designed to attract qualified members of the group in question; (b) A systematic effort to organize work and redesign jobs in ways that provide opportunities for persons lacking ''journeyman'' level knowledge or skills to enter and, with appropriate training, to progress in a career field; (c) Revamping selection instruments or procedures which have not yet been validated in order to reduce or eliminate exclusionary effects on particular groups in particular job classifications; I believe schools can, and do somewhat, follow the first two of these ideals. More time spent in the recruitment of minorities, and on campus help for minority students. There is a big argument whether following part d and researching standardized tests will help. Schools use national standardized tests as one of their major guidelines for recruitment. I do not believe these tests to be racially biased towards white students. I have an African American friend who I went through primary and secondary school with.
I know how smart he is, and his standardized test scores show exactly his level of knowledge. Since schools are not finding enough qualified students to enroll in the university they are admitting minority students who are not up to par with their counterparts. The average SAT scores were 288 points below the Berkeley average for black students admitted before the removal of affirmative action (Krauthammer 22). The admittance statistics for California after inactive proposition 209 are thought prov...
Free research essays on topics related to: standardized tests, white students, preferential treatment, minority students, affirmative action
Research essay sample on Affirmative Action Standardized Tests
