The Necessity of Affirmative Action in the United States Today

My opponent, though bringing up a valid point on the fears of hiring a less qualified individual for a job or to a position in a school has used a poor example in the 1978 Regents of the University of California v. Bakke. This case involved a quota system for having minorities entered into the medical school, however the results of the inquiry were inconclusive as to whether or not Bakke would have gotten into the school. At the time, "friends" of the University filled many spots, and it was not at all clear whether or not he would have had a spot even if there were no quota system ("Regents of the University of California v. Bakke"). In any case, although the court ruled against a quota system, it deemed that race should be considered in admissions for institutions of higher learning, thus enforcing affirmative action ("Bakke Decision (law Case)"). This decision enforced the idea that although there may be more "qualified" individuals contending for a spot, there is a certain value in having a diversified student body in a place of higher education, because it allows for a better academic experience, since in the professional world one must deal with persons of all different races and ethnicities. To counter my opponent's next point on the enactment of proposition 209, one need look no further than the aftermath of this proposition. The removal of affirmative action resulted in a drop in minorities" enrollment. Two years after the 1996 California initiative barred race in admissions for college the number of African American, Latino and Native American freshmen state schools had fallen by more than 50%, and the rates at which minority students applied and enrolled had declined at every UC campus (Bollinger). Obviously, the removal of the affirmative action policies in California have broader implications that suggest that should affirmative action be removed the educational division between minorities and Caucasians would deepen. However, should one wonder why such a division occurs, one must look no further than Bollinger"s later point. Bollinger makes the point it is very important to have openness and diversity lest the element we know to be essential for the academic experience be taken (Bollinger). To understand the importance of Affirmative Action, one must look beyond the limited view of our own perspectives. According to a Caucasian perspective, one would think that Affirmative Action, as my opponent claims, allows for less qualified people to take "Caucasian" jobs. However, according to the perspective of minorities, it allows for minorities to better their families with an education and a job that they would not be able to have without the aid of Affirmative Action. They would not have been able to do so, because they were put in a position by their parents where they do not have enough money to get a reasonable job to have the luxuries that others take for granted. Affirmative Action helps to break this cycle that has started a long time ago when they were put down by past generations. "Bakke Decision (law Case)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica. Web. 22 Oct. 2013. Bollinger, Lee C. "Race Matters." Los Angeles Times. 09 Oct 2012: A.11. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 21 Oct 2013. "Regents of the University of California v. Bakke." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Oct. 2013. Web. 22 Oct. 2013.