US Universities Should be Required to Give Preference to Applicants of Underrepresented Minorities

Yeah, I see what I did, I forgot to fix the formatting. Oh well, let's get started.Racial Preference Doesn’t Account for Economic Status:Asians and Whites tend to be overrepresented at top level universities in the US compared to Hispanics and Blacks who are underrepresented. This means that under the resolution Pro is arguing for, most universities should give preference to Hispanics and Blacks over Asian and White students. This is problematic because a Black or Hispanic person is not always worse off than an Asian or White person, so rich Blacks and Hispanics will have advantages over poor Whites and Asians.In 2009 it was found that 11.7% of Asians and 11.4% of Whites in the US live in a household with under $15,000 a year in income. Meanwhile, 9.3% of Blacks and 11.7% of Hispanics live in households with incomes over $100,000 a year. (1) Even though it may not be a lot compared to their racial group as a whole, these poor Asians/Whites and rich Hispanics/Blacks still exist, and by giving preference to these rich folks you are hurting the poor people who did not have the same opportunities, just because their race does better on average.In fact, this is happening right now in the US with its Affirmative Action. It’s been observed that many poor Whites and Asians have been disadvantaged due to AA. Even worse, the racial preferences have been found mainly to benefit minorities of middle and upper middle class backgrounds. (2) This is also happening at Harvard, (often considered the US’s top university) where they found about 2/3 of their Black student population were either African or West Indian immigrants (or their children) or only partly Black. (3) Studies have also shown similar results at elite American universities. (4) These Blacks didn’t have routes in slavery or have to deal with discrimination for generations and they usually don’t live in ghettos either. In fact, these immigrants are often seen as “model minorities”, much like Asians are. (4, 5) Overall, even though it is clear that Blacks and Hispanics recieve clear benefits in the application process to universities, poor students were found to receive very little if any benefits. (6)It’s clear that giving preference to underrepresented to minorities is a mistake, because there are enough rich Blacks and Hispanics and enough poor Whites and Asians to fill their quota. All this does, is disadvantage poor and provide an extra boost to the rich.Mismatch Effect:A problem with giving preference to underrepresented minorities is that these students, who may otherwise have been rejected from an elite university, are unable to handle the harder work load. Currently, Blacks and Hispanics with lower SAT scores or MCAT and GPAs (for those applying to med. school) are more likely to get in than most people are. This means that they were probably inferior students compared to those who may have got in if not for racial preference. In fact, this has been seen as Black dropout rates of universities are often much higher than White dropout rates. Plus, Blacks are 4 times more likely to fail the Bar Exam (for law school students) and half of Black college students rank in the bottom 20% of their classes. (7)This clearly shows a problem with giving underrepresented minorities an advantage, since they usually cannot live up to the advantage given to them.Reverse Discrimination:By giving preferences to Blacks and Hispanics, you are discriminating against Asians and Whites. The evidence for this is pretty clear. Despite the fact that Asians and Whites scored substantially better on tests such as the SAT than did Blacks and Hispanics, they get rejected more often. (8) Also, Asians and Whites typically participate in more extra-curricular activities, and Asians especially are known for going above and beyond to make top schools. (9, 10)This is a huge problem because these people who did nothing wrong, despite being born as an Asian or White person, have to face much harder times in getting into top universities. One of the main arguments for giving underrepresented minorities an advantage is that it is to help end discrimination, yet it requires discrimination, especially against Asians (a minority in the US). Asians Faced Discrimination Too: Since Asians are overrepresented at top universities than Whites in the US, Whites are given preference over Asians at universities. One of the main reasons people think Blacks and Hispanics should be given preference is due to discrimination they’ve faced and continue to face. However, it is undeniable that historically and today Asians have been discriminated against and face stereotyping more than Whites have/do. Sources: 1- http://www.census.gov... 2- https://alumni.stanford.edu... 3- http://www.nytimes.com... 4- http://www.realclearpolitics.com... 5- https://books.google.ca... 6- http://www.nytimes.com... 7- http://www.theatlantic.com... 8- https://en.wikipedia.org... 9- http://plaza.ufl.edu... 10- http://www.businessinsider.com...