Affirmative Action: the New Racism?

Allow me to first state up front that I am NOT racist.

Affirmative action was first enacted in response to racism against African-Americans during the days of the Civil Rights Movement, intended to make the attainment of education and employement by minorities equal to that of whites. Consequently, colleges were forced to accept a certain amount of minority students per year, and, in cases where two students, one Caucasian and the other a minority, were equal in qualifications, the minority would get the coveted spot. This same concept applied to the race for jobs. This legislation was successful in its mission, and made a groundbreaking change in the lives of minorities throughout the U.S.A.

The problem is, the year is now 2007, and that type of racism doesn't exist on such a level within our nation anymore. Race is no longer an issue in the attainment of jobs or admittance to schools, in a country that now prides itself on being a "melting pot" (though my history teacher has told me that it could be more accurately likened to a salad bowl), and accepts people of all races, ages, ethnicities, genders, and religions to find a new life within its borders. In the midst of this equality, though, Affirmative Action lingers in the distance, reminding us of more socially primitive times when we thought with our eyes instead of our heads and made judgements based solely on appearance and fear of the unfamiliar.

Affirmative Action is still there doing its work, but now, Caucasians are being unfairly discriminated against. In competition for key spots in some of the nation's top colleges and universities, students of all races have worked to make the grade. This is alright, but there is more to the story. Remember the aforementioned bit about the equal students of different races, and how the minority won? DING DING DING- We've got a winner. White students are now losing spots to Asian, Hispanic, Latino/a, Middle Eastern, and African-American students merely because the colleges have to play a numbers game with the U.S. government. They are working just as hard, if not harder than, minority students, and are being denied on the basis of ancient prejudices which they had no part in promoting. Why should we have to bear the burden of white society's debt to the minorities of America when we have been raised to respect others regardless of their skin color and lived lives promoting civil rights for all? WE DIDN'T DO IT, so stop punishing us, please.

For this reason, I think Affirmative Action should be disregarded completely and abolished legally. Intelligence and potential do not have a color or race, so why are we trying to give them one? Let students be judged by their determination, intelligence, and willingness to achieve great things in their future, and not whether or not one of their parents wasn't Caucasian. Make America truly a land of equality, and grant equal right to all of us.

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