Should affirmative action policies, which give ...



Should affirmative action policies, which give preferential treatment based on minority status, be eliminated?

Overview/Background

Affirmative action generally means giving preferential treatment to minorities in admission to universities or employment in government & businesses. The policies were originally developed to correct decades of discrimination and to give disadvantaged minorities a boost. The diversity of our current society as opposed to that of 50 years ago seem to indicate the programs have been a success. But now, many think the policies are no longer needed and that they lead to more problems than they solve.

One notable example is a case currently being argued in the Supreme Court concerning admissions to the University of Michigan. The school has a policy of rating potential applicants on a point system. Being a minority student earns you more than twice as many points as achieving a perfect SAT score. Three white students have sued citing this as raced-based discrimination. School officials say that diversity is desirable and affirmative action is the only way to achieve true diversity.

Racial quotas for public colleges were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the case of Bakke v. California. Since then, public colleges seeking to increase diversity have used other types of affirmative action. While private universities have more freedom in their admissions decisions, they generally find that other affirmative action policies are a better way of achieving diversity than quotas because they allow for greater flexibility and more fairness.

Affirmative action in the college admissions process has, in the decades following Bakke, been primarily an ethical rather than a legal issue. So long as the decision process did not employ strict racial quotas, colleges could choose to accept whomever they wanted. This is changing however; California's Proposition 209, passed in 1996 with 54% of the popular vote, prohibits any use of racial preferences in government hiring and public school admissions. More than a dozen states are considering similar legislation, and Federal courts in Texas and elsewhere have also brought into question the legality of using race as a determinant in academic admissions.

Insofar as the question is an ethical one, the bulk of the disagreement is over whether or not affirmative action increases fairness in the admissions process. Additionally, the debate over affirmative action raises the question of what role diversity in student bodies plays in both the academic mission of a university and in the quality of life on campus.

Affirmative action in evaluating college applicants has supporters and opponents on both sides of the political spectrum, but generally speaking it is more popular among liberals than among conservatives. To help you make your own decision about the issue we've listed the arguments for both sides. Let's start by looking at some of the arguments in favor of affirmative action.

FOR AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

"Affirmative action allows for fair evaluation of candidates by making up for existing social inequalities."

The Argument: Critics of affirmative action often say that it makes it easier for members of some groups to get into college and harder for others. However, the purpose of affirmative action is to increase the admissions rates of minorities that are under-represented in America's colleges. This under-representation is attributed to various social factors: students from families where few people have pursued higher education are less likely to excel in high school; children who come from communities where English is not regularly spoken face a large disadvantage in reading and writing; and students from school districts with lower funding tend to perform poorly on standardized tests. Affirmative action does not make it easy for students from a disadvantaged background to get into college; it merely makes up for some of the difficulties.

"A diverse student body creates a better learning environment."

The Argument: A lot of the learning done at colleges comes from sources other than textbooks and professors. Students can learn a lot from one another, but only if the student body contains representatives of a wide range of backgrounds. Colleges go out of their way to make sure that their student bodies contain athletes, political activists, and musicians so that each student brings something different to the community. Affirmative action assures that members of all ethnic groups are present within a college.

"Lowering standards for under-represented groups raises the quality of the student body."

The Argument: While affirmative action lowers admission standards for certain minorities, its purpose is to counterbalance academic disadvantages faced by those groups. Individuals who benefit from affirmative action must achieve academic excellence relative to other people with similar backgrounds. Affirmative action therefore creates a student body that has tremendous academic potential.

AGAINST AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

"It is unfair to judge applicants on anything other than their merits."

The Argument: There are several factors that a college should take into account when considering applicants, such as grades, test scores, and extra-curricular achievements. However, an applicant's race is not a legitimate factor to take into consideration because it is outside of the student's control. It is impossible for a college to consider every aspect of a student's background when making admissions decisions. Why focus on race in particular, as opposed to the thousands of other aspects that differentiate students from one another?

"Affirmative action does not lead to true diversity."

The Argument: Diversity of opinion is important in an academic community, but racial diversity is not. Affirmative action provides an advantage to some people because of the color of their skin, an attribute not relevant to the academic mission of a college. There are many factors which constitute a student's perspective, but affirmative action gives preferential treatment based exclusively on race, a purely external characteristic.

"Affirmative action does not help really disadvantaged groups."

The Argument: In many cases, affirmative action does not achieve its goal of helping disadvantaged minority groups. Instead, it perpetuates socioeconomic inequalities by making it easy for members of racial minorities from privileged backgrounds to get into prestigious colleges while not helping members of the lower classes.

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

After reading the arguments for and against Affirmative Action, come up with the opposition’s response to each of the points made with your quad.

FOR AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

"Affirmative action allows for fair evaluation of candidates by making up for existing social inequalities."

Response: __________________________________________________________________________

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"A diverse student body creates a better learning environment."

Response: __________________________________________________________________________

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"Lowering standards for under-represented groups raises the quality of the student body."

Response: __________________________________________________________________________

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AGAINST AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

"It is unfair to judge applicants on anything other than their merits."

Response: __________________________________________________________________________

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"Affirmative action does not lead to true diversity."

Response: __________________________________________________________________________

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"Affirmative action does not help really disadvantaged groups."

Response: __________________________________________________________________________

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NAMES: __________________________________ __________________________________

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