Affirmative Action is Fair

"The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to speak openly and candidly on the subject of race, and to apply the Constitution with eyes open to the unfortunate effects of centuries of racial discrimination." (1) Because I agree with Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor, I must affirm that Affirmative Action in the United States is fair. Affirmative Action is the acknowledgement of the struggle of being part of a racial minority in America. It is the demonstration of respect and value for the accomplishments of individuals who make the most of disadvantageous situations. Above all, Affirmative action is a highly beneficial, long term solution to the problem of race based inequality in America. The main basis of my case for Affirmative Action, is that the accomplishments upon which we judge individuals' characters must not to be limited to marks on a piece of paper. I wholeheartedly agree with Martin Luther King Jr., and my opponent, that people should be judged based on their accomplishments. However, my opponent is grievously wrong in their interpretation of King's statement. Their mistake is that they fail to include triumphs over adversity and discrimination, as valid accomplishments by which a person's individual worth can be judged. If Martin Luther King Jr. were alive today, I believe that he would completely support Affirmative Action, because he experienced first hand, the effects of racial discrimination and inequality. He would view overcoming the challenges that minority citizens encounter today as an accurate and valid testament to strength of character, ambition, and resilience. So what are these race based disadvantages that I speak of? To be frank, the list of disadvantages that many people of color (particularly African-Americans and Latinos) often face is so long that I could not possibly fit them all. For this reason, I will focus on the most important ones to the issue of Affirmative Action. Obviously, the most relevant issue is that of disparities in education opportunities. The US Department of Education has released data that many high schools with high percentages of African-American and Latino students fail to offer higher level classes, such as Calculus and Physics. (2). According to law professor, Sheryll Cashin, the future ability of a student to obtain a quality high school education is predetermined by their socio-economic status at birth. Socio-economic disparities between races are so extreme that 34% of African-American Children (2), and 27% of Latino-Americans (2) children live in poverty. This is compared to only 10% of Caucasian-Americans (2), and 13% of Asian-Americans (3). Poverty not only impacts education opportunities, but also increases crime rates, violence, drug use, malnutrition, and hunger. Rising above these conditions, and continuing on to be successful, even to a lower degree, is a major real world accomplishment. It takes initiative, determination, and inner strength. It should be valued just as highly, if not more so, than earning a high GPA or winning a debate tournament. In addition to the aforementioned disadvantages that impoverished Latinos and African-Americans face, there is another problem that all African-Americans and Latinos face, regardless of economic status: discrimination. African-Americans and Latinos experience both systematic mistreatment, particularly in the criminal justice system, as well as general racist ideas in the population (4). These are social problems that all African-Americans and Latinos experience in their lives, based only on their race. Refusing the accept these ignorant stereotypes, and rising above the discrimination, is an accomplishment, in and of itself. The criticism human beings receive from others can have a huge impact on their mental health. Therefore, overcoming discrimination demonstrates a high level of self-respect, self-determination, and self-worth. These are all attributes that colleges and employers alike should desire in a prospective student or employee. Now that I have explained the fairness and justifications for Affirmative Action, I will go on to explain the need for Affirmative Action, and point out it's benefits. "Many of the gaps in my knowledge and understanding were simply limits of class and cultural background, not lack of aptitude or application as I feared." (5). To again reference Sonia Sotomayor, disadvantaged students are not incapable of ultimately succeeding in their college careers. In her autobiography, "My Beloved World", Sotomayor states that she benefitted from Affirmative Action, when she was accepted to Princeton University. Although she wasn't nearly as academically prepared as many of her peers, she went on to be incredibly successful, and has had a huge positive impact on the world. The above quotation, which could apply to any beneficiaries of Affirmative Action, explains this success; Initiative, resilience, and determination are ultimately as important, if not more so, than knowledge and prior education. Without Affirmative Action, these qualities won't be a part of the application process. And these are qualities of character that have the potential to benefit the entire world. And now to address my opponent's case: To address their first argument, about Asian-Americans being harmed the most by Affirmative Action is based on the information included in a highly subjective, clearly biased article. Having read through it, I found that although the facts it stated may be true, it did not objectively analyze the actual cause. The article states that qualified Asian-Americans are being passed over by top level universities for the sake of diversity. It states that the "overachiever" Asian stereotype has caused colleges to disregard the qualifications of Asian students, in favor of diversifying their student bodies. However, it fails to acknowledge that there may be other causes of the issue. The example the article itself gives is of a student with perfect test scores and an incredibly high GPA, who was not accepted into some of the colleges he applied to. What the article fails to take into account is that most colleges want more than just a perfect academic record. They look for well rounded applications, with students who show their interests through a few extracurriculars, which they dedicate a lot of their time to. They also want well written and individualized personal statement essays. The fact that many academically qualified Asian-American students aren't accepted into all of the colleges they apply for, may have absolutely nothing to do with Affirmative Action. In fact, the pressures to succeed academically, which the article itself mentions, may cause problems with many Asian-American's students' applications, as a whole. And finally, I will address my opponent's second argument, that Affirmative Action is unfair for Caucasians and Asians living in poverty, or in low income households. The fact is, this is simply not true. Even if they do use Affirmative Action, college admissions officers still take into account socio-economic status, as much if not more so than race (7). Affirmative Action is never the only factor that goes into admissions decisions. College admissions officers place great care and thought into their decisions. Contrary to the theoretical example my opponent has proposed, they are not going to make absurd, unfair decisions just by glancing at an applicant's race. 1: http://www.kansascity.com... 2: http://wallstcheatsheet.com... 3: http://www.asian-nation.org... 4: https://www.dosomething.org... 5: http://www.goodreads.com... 6: http://www.collegexpress.com... 7:http://cepa.stanford.edu...