Contemporary Use of Affirmative Action Revealed

The blog Discriminations (http://www.discriminations.us/2010/01/race_preferences_how_many_bene.html) recently posted several linked articles entitled, “Race Preferences, How Many Benefit, How Many Are Burdened?” that critically analyze not only the immense weight affirmative action has on the admissions process, but also how it effects those that are of minority and majority statuses. Jessie Rosenberg, the author of Discriminations, begins the post with the typical support behind the use of affirmative action. She notes several statistics confirming that without affirmative action, the percentage of particular minorities attending law schools would diminish by approximately 10%. Her voice early in the posts is a bit indifferent. While she provides the readers with support for the use of affirmative action, she refrains from adamantly advocating on its behalf. However, this does not last, and as the posts continue, her true voice is emerges.

In a vehement statement depicting her disdain for the lack of attention paid to those hurt by affirmative action, she states,

“Left undiscussed, however, is how much unnecessary discrimination against whites and Asians is necessary in order to maintain the attendance of minorities.”

This is an important point that many scholars and students alike forget, although some are benefited from affirmative action, the majority are unfairly harmed by it. She continues this strong line of dismay for affirmative action by including several scholarly statistics that display the titanic influence affirmative action has on the admissions process.

“Black applicants are more than five times as likely as whites to be accepted to private schools, and 220 times as likely to be accepted at public schools.”

 Although this is merely one of many statistics Jessie writes, its placement adds great depth to Jessie’s voice. These statistics are also adding a taste of cynicism to her voice; as many law schools deny the magnitude of affirmative action, her proof blatantly contradicts these assertions.

Throughout the posts, Jessie oscillates between the pros and cons of affirmative action. Now, (I am only inferring from her posts and speaking on my behalf) affirmative action has beneficial aspects to it that may still be needed in modern society. Stemming from the debate that because public schools are funded by local taxes, all public schools are provided with different amounts of funding. Thus, some schools are not provided with adequate resources and intern, the students educational opportunities are hurt. Now although certain minorities may comprise a larger percentage of those living in and attending these improperly funded public schools, they are not the only ones. If you follow this line of reasoning, affirmative action or preferential treatment should not look at race, but rather family income and one’s socioeconomics. This will much more accurately provide universities and law schools with what students truly did not receive equal opportunity. However, this is not the case. Schools are solely focused on the façade of a racially represented school. It does not even matter your struggles or true disadvantages, but only the color of your skin. What happens to the poor white men and women? Nothing good. This improper use of a once beneficial program completely undermines the foundations of equality and the incentive to work hard for those that will be adversely affected by affirmative action.

Jessie witnesses the current hypocrisy of affirmative action and how its weight is downplayed to prevent anger from those white and Asian students. Her voice is powerful and scholarly, permeating throughout the posts. The amplitude of statistical evidence she provides the clear foundation of her tone. Accompanied by strong adjectives such as atrocious and ludicrous, her voice and view is most clearly represented here in this sentence from one of the posts,

“I want to dispense, again, with the ubiquitous canard that there is no discrimination because whites, as a group, are not seriously injured.”

It is very evident from this sentence and the rest of the post that Jessie, like me, find it to be naïve and quite frankly, a lie, to say that non minority students are not hurt by preferential treatment and affirmative action. It is her clear and precise counterarguments to the main proponents of affirmative action that make her voice so valid and respectable.

This collection of posts from Discriminations eloquently shed light on the highly controversial topic of affirmative action. Her words and voice shall enlighten the many ignorant who naively call opponents to affirmative racist. America is a land of opportunity, freedom, and most importantly equality. It is the barbaric mechanisms of discrimination such as affirmative action, that erode the perilous work America has done to establish itself as the great country it is today.