Affirmative Action- Negative Team free essay sample

In response to such suppressive inequalities, the United States decided to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, outlawing major forms of discrimination against racial, ethnic, religions, and women. In 1961, President Kennedy had introduced affirmative action, and in 1965 President Johnson began to put it into effect. Affirmative Action was meant to balance out some of the inequalities that had been holding back minorities from opportunities to excel in things such as; employment and school. Affirmative action was thought to be a temporary effort to fix inequalities that would, over time, fade away. However, here we are in the year 2013 and affirmative action is still largely being enforced. Because of this, much controversy over its relevance in our current day society strongly exists. While proponents may argue that Affirmative Action is still needed, many feel that it is now counter-productive. Americans tend to be a highly competitive society, favoring an applicant due to their skin color, religion or ethnicity unfairly gives a boost to those that are competing on ability alone (Storey, 2011). Currently the Supreme Court is reviewing the case of Fisher vs. University of Texas, in which Abigail Fisher, a white student, was denied admission to the University of Texas due to Affirmative Action. She brought the University of Texas to court based on the fact that she felt the rejection â€Å"violated the Equal Rights Protection of the 14th  Amendment† (Hu, 2012). When two students are applying to a college and they have the same SAT and GPA scores, one should not gain admission simply because the  college has a quota system. This is akin to reverse discrimination. Also, admitting a student based on these criteria may place a student in a school in which they will perform poorly due to being ill equipped to handle the more competitive environment. This sets one up for failure and demeans their ability to achieve success on their own merits. It is also demeaning and condescending to the applicant as they will be viewed as less capable by their peers. Affirmative Action takes away the incentive for one to perform to the best of their abilities, leading to lower achievement. â€Å"Students end up with poor grades (usually in the bottom fifth of their class), lower graduation rates, extremely high attrition rates from science and engineering majors, substantial self-segregation on campus, lower self-esteem and far greater difficulty passing licensing tests†Ã‚  (Sander Stuart, 2012) Many believe that affirmative action is needed to maintain a diverse educational system, when studies have shown that in fact it does exactly the opposite. â€Å"Economics professor Peter Arcidiacono and his colleagues at Duke University found in a 2011 study that students were much more likely to become friends with classmates they saw as academically similar to themselves. Students with large preferences were more likely to self-segregate and find themselves socially isolated. (Sander Taylor, 2012, p. 3)   A few of the examples that these supporters have used to support their positive stance includes students that have started at a disadvantage are given an opportunity that they may not have otherwise had, some stereotypes may never be broken without affirmative action and it helps lead a color blind society. These are all positive aspects that as a society we should strive to maintain but in no way does affirmative action help withhold these benefits. The problem with these so called â€Å"benefits† is it forms a reverse discrimination; tension is caused between different ethnic groups and creates more biased opinions. When a person see’s someone admitted to a school or hired for a job based on their ethnicity and not on their achievements this causes many frustrations and has been known to widen the racial gap, in turn, breeding stereotypes. Racial equality is one of the biggest issues our society faces; however, race based affirmative action â€Å"treats the symptoms but not the root causes of an underlying social problem,† (Espenshade, 2012). Instead of basing college admissions of ethnicity, we need to take a closer look at why different races are behind in the first place, â€Å"entering kindergarten black children are one year behind white children, and when they graduate high school black teenagers are four years behind white teenagers,† (Espenshade, 2012). We should be addressing this issue in kindergarten instead of at the college level and determining how we can correct the problem of the â€Å"racial and socioeconomic gap in academic performance† from the first day of school. One of the most profound conclusions that can be taken from affirmative action is ones attitude and how they will relate to the balancing of demographic status and evaluation of procedures that are directly associated to the choosing of prospective students and/or candidates. Overall the evidence before us seems to acknowledge not only the injustices that affirmative action creates, but the disproportionate injustices of those of diverse ethnicities, race, sexual orientation, disabilities and women endure as a result, as well. It appears the indicative problem with affirmative action is that it is intended to provide a provisional and unsatisfactory remedy to deep problems without really addressing and banishing the underlying cause. Society as a whole must strive to exchange affirmative action with fair and equitable treatment for all. Of course, this will require significant changes in the corporate and educational institute process as well as social attitudes. Diversity is becoming a way of life for some but not enough people have embraced this concept. Unfortunately, affirmative action is not the first step towards equality for all but instead it is the culmination process. Annotated Bibliography Espenshade, Thomas J. (October 4th 2012). Moving Beyond Affirmative Action. NY Times. Retrieved from http://www. nytimes. com/2012/10/05/opinion/moving-beyond-affirmative-action. ht ml Espenshade believes that race-conscious affirmative action is necessary, and often beneficial. He feels if affirmative action is abolished, selective colleges and universities will face a less diverse environment and that the racial and socioeconomic gap in academic performance is America’s most pressing domestic issue. Hu, Helen. Debate over affirmative action in college admissions continues.   Diverse Issues in Higher Education  25 Oct. 2012: 8. Academic OneFile. Web. 25 Feb. 2013. Retrieved from: http://go. galegroup. com. library. esc. edu/ps/i. do? id=GALE%7CA307917321v=2. 1u=escit=rp=AONEsw=w Hu references the case of Fisher vs. University of Texas, in which Abigail Fisher, a white student, was denied admission to the University of Texas. She brought the University of Texas to court based on the fact that she felt the rejection â€Å"violated the Equal Rights Protection of the 14th  Amendment,† due to the fact that she felt it was a case of reverse discrimination. The district and appellate courts upheld the University’s decision and on February 21st  2012 the U. S Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. This case is currently ongoing with the U. S Supreme Court and no decision has yet been made. Sander, R. , Stuart, T. ,Jr. (2012, Oct 13). REVIEW the unraveling of affirmative action. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://search. proquest. com/docview/1104427183? accountid=8067 Sander and Stuart review the problems students face when Affirmative Action is used to place a student in an environment in which they are not suited, too often setting them up for failure instead of success. Instead it has been found that minorities, who are more properly placed in median schools or at the level of their actual capabilities, tend to excel much faster. Furthermore, it is believed that by fostering diversity in the classroom it will inevitably create cross-racial friendships, instead studies have shown that affirmative action can actually have an opposite affect. Storey, W. (2011, February). Affirmative action evaluated. Politics Review,  20(3), 21+. Retrieved from http://go. galegroup. com. library. esc. edu/ps/i. do? id=GALE%7CA248735692v=2. 1u=escit=rp=ITOFsw=w Storey reviews how the people with the strongest opposition to affirmative action when it was first introduced