Affirmative Action: A Question of Discrimination

In collaboration with Archie

      With the recent controversies surrounding Harvard and its apparently biased views on Asian-Americans, one has to wonder if affirmative action is becoming a tool for discrimination rather than against it. This is certainly what the Student Committee for Fair Admissions believes, citing that Asian-Americans have higher test scores and better extracurricular activities than their minority counterparts. "Minority" in this case refers to Latinos, African-Americans, and Native Americans. The preference given to students of the above-mentioned races has instigated court cases before when a white student who felt that she was discriminated against sued the University of Texas. However, what both of the prosecutors in the cases fail to realize is that college, just like the real world, is far beyond numbers. Yes, even the amount of debate awards won or the place one received in a math competition is, in the literal sense, a number. In this post, I hope to provide the perspective of an average Asian-American high school student who supports Affirmative Action and the right of educational institutes to use them.

     Educational institutes have the right to, and should, use Affirmative Action in the admissions process. Affirmative Action includes the race of the student, among other factors. By using affirmative action, colleges can potentially admit students hailing from underrepresented minorities in their respective fields. Unfortunately, and I say this from personal experience, the career major choices of Asian Americans are, to be blunt, narrow. Engineering and medicine dominate the conversation, mostly because of cultural background. There are very few of the above-mentioned minorities in these fields, and colleges want to encourage them. Thus, top institutions admit talented minorities because of the potential inspiration they can provide to other members of their community. Affirmative Action is required because without it, future generations of under-represented minorities will not have the confidence to apply themselves in higher-education.

   

Citations: https://medium.com/nbycreads/affirmative-action-the-asian-perspective-a2054b470906