Affirmative Action and Higher Education - Essay Example

Inserts His/her Inserts Inserts Grade (23, 06, Affirmative Action Affirmative Action and Higher Education Affirmative Action has been widely used in colleges and universities to diversify the student bodies and create a balance of population of people of different races so as they can get equal representation in the country’s education sector. Affirmative Action was introduced in the education system because it was argued that educational benefits are produced when there is diversity in the student population. It also helps to breakdown stereotypes as affirmative action helps to house people from all races in a single institution and thus allowing a representation from all races and gender, promoting diversity and social equality (Epple, Romano and Sieg, 475-501). A research conducted in 2007 indicates that elimination of Affirmative Action will reduce a substantial amount of minority students from top tier universities across the United States. The research did not only consider race, but also took an account of gender and financial based affirmative action (Epple, Romano and Sieg, 475-501). Affirmative Action has been under a subject of constant debate. Many intellectuals, professors, law makers and civil society members do not call it a simple problem. Affirmative Action is not just a question of right and wrong. Affirmative Action must be viewed with the light of other issues which also affect affirmative action so that it can be understood properly (Bunzel, 50-60). Affirmative Action has been both praised and criticized for its use. It is praised as it looks to end any discriminatory treatment of the minorities (Holzer and Neumark, 34-50). However, it has come under fire due to the fact that affirmative action utilizes the very discrimination it seeks to eliminate. This reverse discrimination might cross the rights of other people who are a part of majority group and more deserving than the minority group (Jr., 7-12). But before we go into the details and merits/demerits of Affirmative action, we have to understand the background of affirmative action and the reason why such action had to be introduced in the United States. Why there was a need to place a law where racial, sexual and religious considerations had to be put in order to bring a certain group of people on par with the majority of the country. We have to go through a history of discrimination to understand why Affirmative Action is necessary to be enforced in the higher education system. History of Discrimination in the United States of America USA and discrimination go a long way back in the history. It is a saddening fact which we have to accept. Throughout the course of the history of United States, there have been one or more groups which have been continually segregated and had been victim of racism because of their different ethnic or racial background. There had been movements in the United States to include people of all racial and religious backgrounds to be included in the nation building process and have equal opportunities for employment and education. Racism in United States dates back to the colonial era. After the creation of United States, the idea of Indian removal gained momentum, where the Native Indian tribes living in the east of the Mississippi River were moved to the west. This was the first instance of segregation implemented by the Government against a group. Even after the removal of Indians, a number of Indians stayed behind who then were subjected to extreme racially discriminated policies (Castillo, 433). May be the worst history of racism in the United States can be regarded against the African Americans. The history of discrimination against Blacks dates back to the slavery era. The first of Blacks were introduced in the United States were from the English settlers who brought them as slaves, dating back to 1619. Even after the creation of United States and abolishing of slavery, the racist attitude against the blacks was not diminished. Blacks were regularly segregated, discriminated against, subjected to hate crimes, racial abuse, public lynching and were not allowed to vote or hold key public offices. They were deprived of modern and advanced education and were usually unemployed or used as cheap labor. Even during the World War I, although blacks rushed to join the allied cause against Germany, they never actually saw combat action and were limited to support roles only (Africans in America, 1). It was not until 1964 when Civil Rights Act of 1964 secured the equal place of African Americans in the American society. They were allowed to vote equally as well as attend the same public schools, restaurants and hotels as the whites. Equal job opportunities were granted to all the citizens of United States of America and blacks were allowed to hold the same public and government offices as the whites. These landmark decisions were one of a kind in the history of United States and the long movement by Black Americans had seemed to achieve their objectives (Spartacus Educational, 160-180). However, the Civil Rights Act was not very welcome with everyone in the United States. Officially the segregation was abolished and equality was maintained but the mindset of White Supremacy was still present in much of the White American population (which continues to this day at a very limited scale). The post-Civil Rights Act era saw the some great achievements made by blacks in the fields of Arts, Science, Economics and Politics but the general black population still suffered from poverty, high incarceration rates and subjected to Death Penalty more than the whites. This is generally due to government neglect, charges placed in the criminal justice system, breakdown of family units and unfavorable social policies (Alexander, 65-95). Similar kind of racism and prejudice has been directed against Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans (internment camps against the Japanese Population during WWII), Iranians (post-Revolution), Arabs and South Asians (post-9/11), and even against European immigrants (Chenoweth, 514 ). However, with the American Constitution being against any such kind of racism and hate treatment, the crimes are not as heinous and despicable as they were against the African American population during the 18th and 19th Century. The Need for Affirmative Action in Higher Education Looking back at the history, we find that it has been laced with racism and discrimination. However with the American Constitution now against any such discrimination and racial segregation, the question which arises is that why is it necessary to adopt the policy of Affirmative Action? What are the reasons of drafting and implementing it and how does it help the minority groups in the United States. Affirmative Action is the legal requirement for all the private and public institutions in the United States including education as well. It was signed by President Lyndon Johnson in an executive order (#11246) in order to protect the rights of minorities and other backward groups (Kennedy, 77-150). As stated earlier in this paper that although the discriminatory laws against the blacks were abolished and they were given a similar legal status, for a large degree, this happened only on the paper. The minority groups, especially African Americans still had to struggle to gain their equality on the social front. Minorities including Hispanics, African Americans, Asians, Arabs and South Asians were victim of discrimination where Whites were preferred over these minorities without actually being given the reason. Similar was the condition in educational institutions where minorities were denied admission just because of their racial or national background. One of the surveys suggested that students from minority groups face much more hostility and stigmas in the states which ban affirmative action (Bowen, 44-56). Education sector also had to be clear of any racial or gender discrimination. Therefore, affirmative action was introduced to the admissions policy of top-ranking institutions, colleges and universities across the United States. Another fact apart from the socially discriminate behavior is the fact that Whites constitute majority of population in many states of the United States. With a better financial and educational background than minority groups, Whites somewhat enjoy a natural advantage over the minorities in the opportunities for better education. “Affirmative Action” can be regarded as “Reverse Discrimination” and it actually utilizes discrimination in order to nullify the odds which are in the favor of the majority population. This is also the reason due to which Affirmative Action comes under criticism from the critics of this action. They argue that Affirmative Action is in fact discrimination against the majority in favor of the minority (Brest and Oshiege, 855-900). As cited and argued earlier, if Affirmative Action is abolished, the percentage of minority students studying in top-ranking universities of USA will plummet drastically. Although affirmative action is not limited to race only, a strong co-relation of race and poverty has been found (Indiana University News Room, 1). Does Affirmative Action really help? The question which arises here is not whether Affirmative Action is good or bad? Anything can be defined as good or bad by the effects it has on the society. Will affirmative action remove the negative stereotypes which are found among the general population? These are the questions which we need to answer in order to issue any verdict on Affirmative Action. At this point we need to make clear that Affirmative Action is not solely based upon the principles of race, it has other two very important factors: gender and class. Equal opportunities for women in all walks of life are essential for the progress of country and economic growth. With the family system breaking down and divorce rate at an all time high, it becomes absolutely necessary to take Affirmative Action in the case of women as many of the women are living as a single parent and they need access to highly paid jobs in order to survive with their kids. Same goes for the people with lower financial statuses. When people who are financially unstable and belong to a lower class apply for admissions in top-ranking universities, they should get an equal opportunity as with the people of other classes so that they have a chance to improve their educational status by availing that opportunity and thus become eligible for high-paid and respectable jobs (Holzer and Neumark, 34-50). Supreme Court’s decisions of Affirmative Actions At this point we have to understand the fact that although the merit for a person is different and competency should be the first criteria. For instance, the University of Texas employs the “Top Ten Percent Rule” under which students who graduate from their high-schools with top 10% grades will be granted admission in the university as well as assessing their leadership qualities, personalities and somewhat consideration of race (Slate, 1). The Supreme Court already decided in Grutter vs. Bollinger that university has the right to employ affirmative action in the light of maintaining a critical mass of minority students, spread diversity and protect the emotions of minority groups so they do not feel left out from the educational processes (Justia US Supreme Court Center ,1). However the ongoing Fisher Vs University of Texas can threaten the use of Affirmative Action in all the universities of United States. In this on-going case between Abigail Fisher and University of Texas, it was put forward that the Court should declare University policy is inconsistent with, or entirely overrules Grutter vs. Bollinger. The case was heard by the District Court of United States which upheld the decision of University of Texas. Then the case was brought forward to a three-panel judge in the Fifth Circuit, and they also ruled in the favor of the University. The case is now in the Supreme Court and awaiting decision (Pacelli 569–592). However, this can be argued that merit alone should not be the judging criteria for admissions in the university of choice. Other qualities such as interpersonal skills, leadership qualities and race should be considered as deciding factors (Crosby, Aarti and Susan, 93-115). The Justification for Affirmative Action Why should there be Affirmative Action? Why should it prevail? The biggest reason being the fact that when minorities will not be given a chance to prove themselves on an equal playing field, how can we accept the minorities to perform better? The statistics and numbers generally favor whites with higher GPAs and SAT scores. Why? Are whites racially genius? The answer is no. Whites are not racially genius. The main reason behind the better performance of whites as compared to other minority groups is the fact that a large population of whites has a better financial and educational background which grooms them since their childhood. Minority groups on the other hand suffer from poor financial conditions and thus their children attend schools which are poorly equipped and do not provide quality education to the child (Trent, Owens-Nicholson and Eatman, 322-350). Affirmative Action in education and employment ensures that the minority groups can have a chance of same education and employment opportunities as the majority population so that they can improve their living conditions, financial conditions and educational backgrounds for their offspring (Skerry, 86-102). Further steps should be initiated by the government to introduce better education and establish more high-standard schools in minority communities so that they can have the same level of intellect as the others. Because the grooming of an individual starts at the very basic level. Geniuses are not born, they are made. Until we can make arrangements for producing intellectuals and educated people, then and only then we can think of abolishing Affirmative Action, otherwise it shouldn’t be. Works Cited Africans in America. Freedom and Resistance. 2010. Web. 17 June 2012. . Alexander, M. The Age of Obama as a Racial Nightmare, 2010. Web. 17 June 2012. . Bowen, Deirdre M. “Brilliant Disguise: An Empirical Analysis of a Social Experiment Banning Affirmative Action.” Social Science Research Network, 2009. Print. Brest, Paul and Miranda Oshige. “Affirmative Action for Whom?” Stanford Law Review, 1995. Print. Castillo, Edward D. “Short Overview of Indian History.” California Native Americans, 1998. Print. Chen, Stephanie. “Does Your Name Shape Your Destiny?” Cable News Network, 2010. Print. Chenoweth, Karyn. “Americans: Less Prejudice toward Hispanics than Arabs, Overweight People.” Monster and Critics, 2007. Web. 17 June 2012. . Crosby, Faye J., et al. “Affirmative Action: Psychological Data and the Policy Debates.” PsycINFO, 2003. Print. Holzer, Harry. Assessing Affirmative Action. National Bureau of Economic Research, 1999. Print. Human Rights Watch. Decades of Disparity: Drug Arrests and Race in the United States, 2009. Print. Roosevelt, Thomas. “Affirmative Action to Affirming Diversity.” Harvard Business Review, 1990. Print. Kennedy, F. “Executive Order 10925, 1961.” The American Presidency Project. 1961. Web. 17 June 2012. . Lawyers.com. “Affirmative Action.” Lawyers.com. n.d. Web. 17 June 2012. . Fullinwider, Robert. “Affirmative Action.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2011. Web. 17 June 2012. . Sander, Richard, H. “A Systemic Analysis of Affirmative Analysis in American Law Schools.” Stanford Law Review, 2004. Print. Skerry, Peter. “Borders and Quotas: Immigration and the Affirmative-Action State.” Educational Resource Information Centre, 1989. Print. Gottlieb, Bruce. Happy Opposites Day, 1999. Web. 17 June 2012. . Spartacus Educational. “1964 Civil Rights Act.” Spartacus Educational, 2010. Web. 17 June 2012. . Trent, William, et al. “Justice, Equality of Educational Opportunity and Affirmative Action in Higher Education.” Compelling Interest, 1999. Print. South African History Online. “White Workers and the Color Bar.” Sahistory.org. 2012. Web. 17 June 2012. . Read More