Reverse Racism: How far will it go??

Alright, where to begin? I grew up in a school system in which a select few key points were continuously drilled into one’s mind. The most emphasized however was the idea that racism is a terrible thing. The act of treating one group of individuals differently simply because of their ethnicity is by far one of the lowest things a human is capable of committing. Yet racism in our nation seems to have been given a more specific definition since the age of affirmative action has come about. In the modern era a racist is connotatively defined as a rich, white, man living in the Deep South with a funny accent and a KKK flag on his porch. I do not wish to deny the existence of such an individual because I have no doubt one will approach me, yet this stereotype is long past its day. I have been living in a rural area the majority of my life and can sincerely state I have never encountered someone who fits anything close to that description. Instead we have replaced the stereotypical racists of the 60’s and 70’s with something I believe to be even more dangerous.

Anyone growing up in the modern era knows that their goal is always to go to college. Get good grades so you can get into college, work hard and write essays to pay for college, get a job to pay for college….and so fourth. When I finally realized I had reached this seemingly unreachable task of getting into college, I was struck with a harsh dose of reality. I was not wanted. I had above average grades, I did activities, community service, I wrote all those essays yet no college offered me even a fifth of tuition in scholarship. I began to re-examine the world around me and found it was a much different place then before.

The qualifications for scholarships in the past few decades have taken on a different set of vocabulary. Words like: “Hard working”, “Promising”, and “Gifted” have been replaced by “Disadvantaged”, “Minority”, “Financially needy”, and my favorite “Diverse”. I did not fit the profile of what politically correct America desired to attend school, so I am forced into tremendous debt. This burden is not because of a lack of hard work, not because of a lack of honesty or intelligence; it is because of the color of my skin.

Sound familiar?

But it does not, nor will not stop there.

The best support for a system in which students who are of minorities receive more opportunity than those of other races was defined best by my 12th grade contemporary Issues text book. Under benefits to Affirmative Action it listed that such a policy “compensates for slavery”.

So, what I am to believe is: The reason it is easier for an African American to get into college than me is because it is some sort of payback for slavery over 100 years ago, and the government wishes to make it a compensation. In other words: In order to compensate for allowing discrimination in the past, the government will now discriminate against Caucasians to make up for it. Am I to believe this is ethical? Because someone’s ancestors were treated poorly they are now entitled to discriminate against me?

A similar system was used in pre-soviet Russia. Men whose fathers owed money were forced to work in labor camps to pay off their ancestors’ debt. It was known as serfdom and it launched Russia into a poor, economically unstable state.

I would like my government to explain to me why I am allowed to be treated unfairly for something horrible committed two lifetimes ago. And if that could somehow be justified, how long must my race endure this punishment? What is our debt?

I have now reached the unfortunate realization that such questions will never be answered by any establishment. They go against the system and it makes such a system angry. Reverse racism will continue in this world until it has eaten it whole, like the aftershock of an earthquake it ends up being worse than the original cause. But I ask those who are faithfully upholding such fowl principals as racism to consider this: By holding down white men, will you not only force them to work harder? To become more efficient? To be bolder?

Class warfare is a dangerous game. And while I believe perfect equality in America is now impossible, I am optimistic, because he who swims against the current will grow stronger.