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Spencer Owen
Professor Morean
English 100.15
4 December 2014
Affirmative Action in School Admissions
Introduction
Affirmative action should not be in the work place, but is critical in admissions. Affirmative
action is a highly talked about and controversial topic today in the United States. There are
many debates whether or not affirmative action should be allowed in admissions for higher
education. The benefits of affirmative action greatly outweigh the negatives. Affirmative action
promotes diversity, opens doors for students who would otherwise not be in school, and
ultimately rights historical wrongs. For these reasons, all colleges and universities should use
affirmative action in their admissions.
Diversity is Valuable
One of the main goals of affirmative action in higher education is to create diversity, both in the
classroom and on campus. The experience of arriving on a campus to live and study with
classmates from a diverse range of backgrounds is essential to students training for this new
world, nurturing in them an instinct to reach out instead of clinging to the comforts of what
seems natural and familiar. (Bollinger) Having a diverse student body can enhance the
learning environment, and be a good educational resource. Mitchell Chang performed
experiments to see if having a diverse student body positively effects all students, especially the

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white population. Through one of his studies he found that diversity in a student body has a
positive impact on the white individual. (Chang) When there is a greater amount of diverse
people on campus, white people have a greater chance of conversing with them. Socializing with
a different race may not seem very beneficial but Chang found that socializing with someone of
a different racial group or discussing racial issues contributes to the student's academic
development, satisfaction with college, level of cultural awareness, and commitment to
promoting racial understanding. (Chang) Getting an education in a diverse setting can be
beneficial because people from different backgrounds and different races may have different
thoughts and points of view on subjects that can help you understand things differently. By
having different races in a classroom setting everyone can pick each others brain, and learn what
others have to say on subjects. Some may argue that you can do the same with people from the
same race and background, but they would not bring the same thoughts and ideas that people
from different races would bring to the classroom.
Opportunity
Getting into college can be a very difficult process for most people. But most people do not have
obligations such working two jobs to help out their parents, or take care of their five brothers and
sisters on a daily basis on top of school work and applying to colleges. Minorities are often
compared to Caucasians when it comes to performances in school, but minorities are often at a
disadvantage to everyone else. There are several factors why minorities do not succeed as well
as Caucasians in school. Minority children are more likely to come from poverty than
Caucasian students. (Trapp) These children that come from poverty tend to live in bad
neighborhoods, and go to school with other poor children that live in bad neighborhoods. Life
for children like this is very different from most. Most children get three healthy meals a day

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and have parents that can help them with their homework, while children that come from poverty
do not.
Parents can play a big role in how children do academically. Most children grow up to be
like their parents and if a child has two bad parents, there is not a very good chance the child
turns out any different. Being a child of a single parent would also be very difficult. Thats one
less hand to help, and because of this some have to drop out of school to get a job and help pay
the bills or take care of siblings. Shaylene Trapp gives two eye opening statistics in her article
Minorities Disadvantage to Education, the first being "In the African American community, 72
percent of Black children are raised in a single parent household and the second being an
outcome from living in a single parent household states "[b]oth girls and boys are twice as likely
to drop out of high school, twice as likely to end up in jail and nearly four times as likely to need
help for emotional or behavioral problems. (Trapp)
Being at disadvantages like these can make getting good grades and getting into college
very difficult. Affirmative action helps those in need of some extra attention. Those children
competing to get into a school with others that have better test scores and grades may look like
the person to deny admission, when in reality deserve the opportunity more. There are so many
students at disadvantages that get overlooked by college admissions, and affirmative action can
help these kids get the opportunity they deserve. By admitting these students we can help them
get out of poverty and at the same time make the classroom more diverse which in turn benefits
all students.
I See White People

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Many people in America are nave to think that there is not still racism in the U.S. Sadly we live
in a mostly segregated society. If you are looking for a new house to move into, everyone
checks to see how the neighborhood is first. Typically a Caucasian family will choose to not live
in a profoundly black neighborhood and the same goes for African American families searching
for a new home. Racially segregated areas differ greatly when it comes to quality of
neighborhoods, poverty, and other disadvantages or advantages one might have. These people
that are at those disadvantages are usually Blacks and Latinos. People must recognize that they
are at disadvantages compared to most Caucasians that live in the same area. Affirmative action
is not even enough compensation for the setbacks these people have to face. (Anderson)
Caucasians and blacks live in segregated communities in todays society because that is
how we have always lived. Before the end of the civil war blacks were slaves to whites. It is
troubling to think about how terrible white folks treated African Americans back then. There
was segregation for everything you can imagine. They went to separate schools, used separate
bathrooms, drank from different drinking fountains, rode in the back of buses, and the list goes
on. Because of this segregation blacks most certainly did not get the same type of education as
white people or even any education at all. It was not until President Lincoln abolished slavery in
1863 with the Emancipation Proclamation that blacks gained their freedom. (New Birth of
Freedom) Even after they gained their freedom they were not treated equally. There was and is
still segregation and racism in the United States. By having affirmative action in admissions and
helping disadvantaged students like African Americans, we can help repair the past wrongs we
did to them.
Gender Based Affirmative Action

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While affirmative action has been a hot topic over the course of the past decade, much of the
commentary and litigation associated with the issue has involved race-based programs.
(Skaggs) Gender based affirmative often gets over looked by race based affirmative action.
There is still sex discrimination in the United States. Women do not get the same representation
in education or in employment as males do. Although there is no gap between genders that
graduate from college, women are under-represented in fields of study traditionally studied by
males. Even though 55% of all bachelors and masters degrees are earned by women, they are far
behind males in many respects. (Affirmative Action and What It Means for Women)
According to the most recent available data, women receive only about 16% of
undergraduate engineering degrees, 13% of doctorate degrees in engineering, and only
20% and 23% of doctorate degrees in mathematics and physical sciences. In the lucrative
and growing field of computer sciences, women receive only about 28% of bachelor's
degrees and 15% of doctorates. Yet women still account for over 75% of recipients of
undergraduate degrees in education, and 86% of those awarded in library sciences.
(Affirmative Action and What It Means for Women)
Affirmative action in schools give grants and make programs to specifically help women move
into fields of study that are normally discouraged. Having more women in these fields of study
dominated by males, can help diversify them and will ultimately benefit everyone in the process.
Whites Are Angry
There are opponents of affirmative action that believe it is reverse discrimination. Opponents
argue that this advantage for those who adhere to minority specifications are being supplied with
an unfair step ahead those of the majority who work equally as hard. They often use the

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argument that they are more qualified, having better grades and test scores than the minorities
getting admitted instead of them because of affirmative action. (Levinson) What these students
do not realize is that affirmative action is not discriminating against anyone. Affirmative action
is in colleges to help diversify the classroom, which benefits everyone, and to help those in need
of assistance getting admitted because of certain obligations and disadvantages. They do not
realize that even though they may have better test scores and grades, they do not know the
objective talent these minorities may possess that do not show on test scores. The minorities that
are getting accepted have had to do so much to get into these schools. Some kids have to be the
man of the house and take care of their siblings while working and going to school. This will
make it extremely difficult to compete with other students credentials, which do not have to
worry about anything else besides their school work. Other minorities that live in poverty and
troubled neighborhoods are in similar situations as the other disadvantaged minorities. These
kids do not get the privilege to go to good schools and get as good of an education as others do.
It is impressive for these students to graduate high school let alone go on to college, and giving
them a little help to get into college may just help turn someones life around.
Chelsea Hoffman makes the argument that [m]inorities are capable of getting the
best jobs, obtaining admittance to the most prestigious schools, and being as successful as
any white male has ever been. The problem occurs when people view them as inferior
because of affirmative action--the attitude of "[y]ou couldn't do it on your own." These
implications have a lasting, damaging effect on the mental well-being of minority
students. How can anybody feel truly accomplished when a lingering doubt about the
legitimacy of his achievements exists?

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Chelsea is right when saying that minorities are capable of getting the best jobs and obtaining
admittance to the most prestigious schools, but she does not know about all the minorities that
are at such disadvantage to others. Without a little help, it would be extremely difficult for them
to obtain these goals. Some minorities do not have the privilege to afford a good education, or
have the time to focus on school when they are too busy taking care of their families. Affirmative
action should be there in order to help these people achieve the goals that they are capable and
deserving of.
Conclusion
There are many people for and against affirmative action in the United States. Many minorities
are at a disadvantage when it comes to college admissions. Minorities often have certain
obligations to uphold that put them behind most Caucasians academically. Racism increases the
amount of disadvantages in their lives. Minorities do not get the same opportunities as
Caucasians do, and affirmative action is there to help them get the opportunities they deserve.
By giving them equal opportunity, it helps to repair the past wrongs done to them. Even though
test scores and grades are not always as impressive, they possess objective talent that cannot be
seen through these classifications. Affirmative action results in diversity in the classroom and on
campus that will benefit everyone, and therefore should be in admissions in all colleges and
universities in the United States. We must learn that everyone has value.
Works Cited
Affirmative Action and What It Means for Women National Womens Law Center. N.p.,
30 June 2000. Web. 05 Dec. 2014. <http://www.nwlc.org/resource/affirmative-action
and-what-it-means-women.>

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Anderson, Elizabeth. "Affirmative Action Is About Helping All Of Us." Chronicle Of Higher
Education 57.38 (2011): B11-B13.Academic Search Complete. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.

<http://libproxy.udayton.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=tr
e&db=a9h&AN=62836370&site=ehost-live.>

Bollinger, Lee C. "Why Diversity Matters." Chronicle of Higher Education June 2007:
B20. Academic Search Complete. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.
<http://libproxy.udayton.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=tr

&db=a9h&AN=25426965&site=ehost-live>.

Chang, Mitchell J. "Who Benefits from Racial Diversity in Higher Education?"Association of

American Colleges and Universities (1996): n. pag. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.diversityweb.org/digest/w97/research.html>.

Conolly, Joseph. Affirmative Action Is Reverse Discrimination. sgu.edu. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.
N.p Seattlepi.com. 10 Apr. 2005.
<http://www.seattlepi.com/local/opinion/article/Affirmative-action-is-reverse
discrimination-1170491.php.>.

Froner, Eric, and Olivia Mahoney. A New Birth of Freedom: Reconstruction During the Civil
War. Americas Reconstruction: People and Politics After the Civil War. N.p., 2003.
Web. 08 Dec.2014.
<http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu.exhibits/reconstruction/section1_intro.html.>

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Hoffman, Chelsea. Affirmative Action-Moral Compensation or Reverse Discrimination. The

Colby Reader. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.colby.edu/par/Winter%2000?AFFIRMATIVE%20ACTION.htm>.

Levinson, Rosalieberger. "Gender-Based Affirmative Action And Reverse Gender Bias: Beyond
Gratz, Parents Involved, And Ricci." Harvard Journal Of Law & Gender 34.1 (2011): 1
36. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.
<http://libproxy.udayton.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=tr

e&db=a9h&AN=59601663&site=ehost-live.>

Skaggs, Jason M. Justifying Gender-Based Affirmative Action Under United Stated v.

Virginias Exceedingly Persuasive Justification Standard California Law Review 86.5
(1998): 1169 Academic Search Complete. Web. 09 Dec. 2014
<http://libproxy.udayton.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=tr
e&db=a9h&AN=1211540&siteehost-live.>

Trapp, Shaylene J. Minorities Disadvantages to Education. Applied Social Psychology (ASP)

N.p., 25 Mar. 2013. Web. 02 Dec. 2014
http://www.personal.psu.edu/bfr3/blogs/asp/2013/03/minorities-disadvantages-to
education.html

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