Affirmative Action (Specifically, Standardized Testing)

1) Maybe the SAT isn't a huge factor at Michigan, but many schools find it to be very important in admissions. However, I do agree with the fact that the new trend is to make extra curriculars the priority. But that does not mean that the SAT isn't a big part of the admissions process. 2) I got it! This article outlines a study done and talks about SAT adjustment. Some of the statistics I gave were a little off, but still, the point boots they give are significant. Also, it says the boosts are given at "Elite Universities," so they aren't given at every college. But nonetheless, it is still unfair. http://opr.princeton.edu... 3) My source above negates your third point, since even though it is optional, they do it anyway. 4) Once I reread the article, I realized that the points are not given from College Board, so that was my mistake. They are given from the university. And yes, it is unconstitutional. That is why I am against it. Maybe its not happening at Michigan, but it's still going on. 5) I'm not quite sure I understand your point here. But I will say this: it's unfair to allow something like race or gender become the kind of thing that you would put in your resume with your other credentials. In the application process into any institution, your admission should be solely based on the content of your character, and nothing else. Do you not agree with the scenario I proposed earlier (two students, one white, one black, same credentials, but the black guy gets excepted because of the color of his skin)? Yes, the African American population is not as affluent as some of the other demographic groups. But that does not give anyone the right to deny someone a chance at a great school, just because of that persons ethnicity. 6) AA only promotes social inequity. It sends out a message that minorities can't do this on their own and that they need federal help. This isn't a good message. In a truly equal society, there wouldn't be a debate about Affirmative Action because people will be looked at as students and employees; not as white students and black employees. Everyone will be so unconcerned about which race gets what and what is fair and unfair because people won't be thinking in terms of groups of races. They will be thinking in terms of people as people regardless of color. Does that make sense? It's been a long day, so I hope I was clear. 7) Well, there's on problem with this point. The only reason why men are being so sought after in nursing and education is that there is such a shortage in women. Since the number of women interested in those fields is dropping, they are trying to expand their interest demographic, so that more people will go into those fields. Also, those sources never said anything about men being given preference over women. All they talked about was getting more men involved, because there are so few people in those programs (both men and women). Those articles were merely explaining how the nursing and education programs are increasing their (for lack of a better word) fan base. 8. I never said that without AA there would be no racism. I basically have the same conjecture as you, but mine is that a sans AA society would, slowly but surely, (nearly) remove discrimination from the country. As I stated above, AA gives the impression that minorities are inferior and can only get in schools/jobs if they are helped by the government. Also, it can be argued that AA even creates more resentment because of the white guy that is turned down for the job, even though he was just as qualified or more than the other guy/girl of another ethnicity. I know it's a movie, but a great example is the movie Crash, where Matt Dillon's character's father went out of business because of policies that resulted from affirmative action. As a result, Dillon's character carried that prejudice with him his whole life. I'm not saying we should do nothing about past discrimination. But it is unjust and unfair to do it at the expense of people whom had nothing to do with it. 9). Yes, the founding fathers were hypocritical, but that doesn't make what a lot of what they said wrong. The idea that all men and women should have a chance at success started with them. It is irrelevant whether they followed that or not. For example, I could say never to play hop scotch on the free way, but do it anyway. That wouldn't make the first statement false. So, you don't believe that all people are created equal and have inalienable rights, just because those things were written so long ago? The time of a document's birth has no relevance when discussing the truth behind it. I'm not being disadvantaged. In fact, I gain a lot from Affirmative Action, because I am Latino. But that doesn't justify AA at all. But your claim that AA has increased college attendance is completely false. I think a more reasonably explanation would be the rise in education standards all over the country. I mean, that's almost a 50 year span. I mean, 1960 was only 6 years after Brown vs. Board of Education which over turned the "separate but equal" clause. 1960 is hardly a decent reference point, since things have changed so drastically. 10) Your claim that Michigan is the most racist state is no more valid than mine about barriers. You can't measure racism with statistics, so neither of our points can be proved empirically. However, I proved circumstantially that AA does build barriers. Cases like the police officer in Crash are everywhere. AA is building barriers for sure. PS. Middle Eastern is not a race, but they have other ethnicities on that test as well. I have not taken a College Board test in a while, but I have seen ethnicities like Chicano/Mexican, Non-Mexican Latino, Pacific Islander (could be argued as race), and I think I even saw Carribean once. Of course, I have no way to prove that, but I know that they don't only have options for race on that test. The reason I mentioned that is becuase my good Persian friend hates how there isn't an option for him. He can't put Asian, because of the point reduction, so he has to put other, which is basically the same as putting white.