Affirmative Action is Justifiable and Constitutional

To review my response to the claims of favoring in correlation with "discrimination" please refer back to the first paragraph of my argument in Round 2. To review my response to the claims of lowering of standards please reread my argument in Round 3. The absence of a quotas delegitimizes the practice of lowering standards to force a certain number of minorities filling positions (see Regents of the University of California vs Bakke) I'd like to reiterate the necessity of the distinction to be made between the execution of a policy and the actual content of a policy. This is important to note when considering the statistics you mentioned regarding the disparities between the qualified, the admitted, and the overlap. Again, I stand against the lowering of standards that favors the COMPLETELY unqualified for those that are and if this is the case in any instance it breaches the premises Affirmative Action. This goes for the notion that Asians and Whites are being discriminated against. Secondly, I feel it important to reiterate that Affirmative Action doesn't exist to make race the end all factor. A Survey done by the National Association for College Admission Counseling's State of Admissions concluded that only 3% of institutions indicate that race has "considerable influence", 11% "moderate influence", and 19% limited influence in Admissions decisions. Overall only one third of 4 year public and private institutions consider race in any ways. There are still 14 other criteria that dictate admission (ie test scores, GPA, writing samples, and)extracurricular activities) (1) Race is simply one (but fairly relevant) factor to consider given America's historically racist tendencies in both professional and social spheres. From complete denial of education to slaves to denial of admission to educational institutions post slavery to admission to below subpar educational conditions with equally subpar resources under "separate but equal" policies to statistics alleging the disproportionate representation of minorities in higher institutions. To say that in the last example corresponding to current events with minorities in institutions of higher education, given the periods before it were marked by racist (either overt or subversive)motives and approaches, is suddenly devoid of any racial factors or consideration is irrational. And your mention of either prospective or current stigmas that result on racial premises in the wake of Affirmative Action underlines the same type of racist tendencies you claim don't exist. The questioning of someone's qualifications are unwarranted if the circumstances of their employment and/or education are unknown (given that they can provide necessary credentials) and could only surface on racist principles. So you subvert your own argument against the notion of tendencies towards racial classification in American society. On the matter of Affirmative Action's constitutionality, let us remember that the 15th amendment predated the Civil Rights Act and the circumstances that constituted its exigence by nearly a century (15th Amendment ratified 1870, Civil Rights Act 1964) and the 19th Amendment predates the second wave feminist movement by half a century. So the sudden realization that those same Amendments are suddenly in a large margin working against the collective majority is dubious. To respond to your point on systemic racism again. For the sake of argument, even in the theoretical absence of current racist attitudes, you're telling me that centuries of racial inequality and oppression isn't bound to have long lasting social consequences regarding socioeconomic status and cultural disadvantages with involved minority groups COMBINED with the fact that being a minority in any society from any lens, puts said minorities at an automatic disadvantage because systems and societies are created to benefit and sustain the majority of constituents in said society and rightly so. One could argue that "minority" in any those cases doesn't immediately translate to race which is true HOWEVER my claim is that America has historically chosen that lens to view its own inhabitants and that's not exclusive to Blacks, even European Immigrants endured a period of discrimination and persecution due to race and ethnicity which faded near the turn of the 21st century with the near lack of physical disparity. Hispanics, Asian, and even those from the Middle East have faced similar discrimination as recent as the last decade. And while this isn't an argument of who has suffered more, it is more a historical review to show America's inclinations towards race based classification and discrimination that have ALWAYS served to benefit a white majority at the expense of racially obscured minority, and to say that those events and that lens have had little ronni impact on America's current social and economic fabric is preposterous. Furthermore, to say that deeply rooted systemically instituted ideologies have COMPLETELY phased out in a matter of a decade or two does not stand up under scrutiny. In conclusion, I am not proposing that every instance that falls under the category of Affirmative Action is perfect. As undoubtedly demonstrated, no policy that has sought to bring about racial equality has been executed perfectly and has taken decades to a century to bring about desired results. I noted in the comments the legislation of policies as supplemental to Affirmative Action to make its impact more efficient and effective a possibility. However, I did and do affirm that Affirmative Action is perfectly justifiable given numerous historical injustices that have pervaded our current social climate on various levels as I have also proved that under the thumb of strict scrutiny, Affirmative Action maintains its constitutionality as far as the government deems it as an interest in forwarding its own motives dictated by its constituents. While the ideal of a true meritocracy is certainly desirable by both myself and my opponent, to state that such would be return to an already once established standard of American society is a fallacy given that such has never been the case historically with regards to discrimination against minorities even in the presence of worthy merit. And while Affirmative Action cannot solely remedy that or be the driving mechanism for such social change, it is a perfectly viable factor to strive towards those ideals. Thank You 1. https://www.nacacnet.org...