Resolved: Affirmative action should be practiced in college admissions.

How is affirmative action discrimination? All affirmative action does is level the playing field. For centuries, the white man dominated over any other race! This mindset is still present today, and needs to be stopped. Not necessarily that they live in poverty, but you have to agree that income plays a huge role in a person's outlook on life and education in general. Money is a powerful resource. According to your statistic, 89.7% of people in poverty are minorities... I ask you to look upon your morals and honestly think about what it means to live in poverty. Deciding whether you or your child gets medicine or food, because you don't have the money to get both. It's downright sickening... But I regress. This applies to affirmative action because monetary resources are a huge part of life, and they're being denied to the 89.7% of those impoverished minorities. Say you have a child of a minority. Never been told that education was important. Doesn't know what GPA stands for, much less what it means. Then they reach high-school, and they learn of these wonderful "scholarships". This gives them drive, this gives them the motivation they need to excel in school. And they do... to a point. They study hard, make good grades, apply for college(s), and don't get in simply because of the color of their skin... What now? I agree, whites have dominated the other races for most of history. And even if you want to say that schools shouldn't have 20% black students (I'll use your made up stats because the actual numbers are irrelevant), accepting black students who are actually qualified and raising the stats to, say, 15% is still a great thing. We're still opening up opportunities for those who have been oppressed to create a name for themselves and become a contributing member of society. Basically what it comes down to is this... Whites have always been pretty well off (and I don't mean that to offend anyone... I don't want any of this to offend anyone, for that matter...). This fact has come at the expense of minorities. When we recognize that a problem exists, and we have the power to change it, yet we don't, moral red flags should go up everywhere. As far as affirmative action is concerned, the ends justify the means. No suffering is caused by allowing affirmative action to exist. Even if you don't like the idea of affirmative action because you see it as playing favorites, you have to admit that its goals are sound, and it has a great way to achieve those ends. By allowing minorities to have the opportunity for higher education, you actually allow the American population to be more open and understanding and willing to listen to those from a group labelled "worthless" or "stupid" and allow the entire country to forget hard feelings and allow our rising stars a shot to prove themselves. Continuing the cycle of poverty does absolutely nothing for this great country. It only worsens the economy. As more people draw unemployment and welfare, the taxpayers financial burden increases. Knowing that 89.7% of those in poverty are minorities, it becomes increasingly clear that the best shot of decreasing those numbers IS in those minorities! No longer should we discriminate against minorities, nor should we worship the ground on which they walk, but we DO need to treat them equally, with respect, and as if they were the actual human beings they are. Using your example of a black and white person vying for the same spot, credentials should play a huge role. But what about when the two are alike in every way possible? Is it just for the college admissions board to select the white person because they're biased against blacks? THAT is the reason affirmative action is necessary... I look forward for another great reply from my opponent. Thanks