End The AA Debate

i_wanna_be_Brown
Thu, 09 Jun 2005 20:33:13 +0000

well the reason why so many people get upset about AA is that these colleges have mission statements, and they all discuss the pursuit of academic excellence. In a process that is supposed to be honoring the academic achievments of a student, the color of his skin should not be a factor.

The social injustices of the past which you discuss are indeed unfair, but do not really apply as an analgous situation. Many people cite the Decleration of Independence’s “All men are created equal” as the reason why social injustices should not occur. However that argument is based on a false statement. Not all men (or women) are created equal. I’m not as good as Shaq at playing basketball, I can’t act like Tom Cruise, I’m not as creative as J.K. Rowling, etc.

Also, given that colleges are looking for the best class they can assemble from the applicants, and not that anyone over x sat score and y gpa gets in, for every student admitted, that’s one less spot for you. So to say that “maybe your application wasnt good enough” is not necessarily true. What you could remind them though is that plenty of non URMs did get in, and so it’s not necessarily the half-hispanic legacy recruit (yes, in fact I know one of these) who took your spot.

I feel that AA is one of those things that can never be solved because no one can look at it objectively. Most minorities are blinded by its benefiets while most whites can’t see past the fact that it doesnt give them a boost.