wow, what a creepy rendition of trans-fatI think my better explanation would be midterms and a horrendously bad cold(age). Man, I am tempted to put -age and the end of everything. I think it makes me sound more hipster-esque. I like being less specific and giving my readers more room for interpretation so -age and -esque are pivotal to my writing. Okay, now I'm just fooling around.
A-N-Y-W-A-Y-S,
I'd like to write a post about my justification for affirmative action. I've spouted my mouth off about the topic, and I believe it's high time to put my mouth to paper?!?! I'm being silly. Seriously, affirmative action folks. Heavy stuff. Hence why I've decided to write it in fourth grade essay format.
Why I like affirmative action
by Jessica Y.
by Jessica Y.
I like affirmative action. It does good stuff for college students. It makes me happy and it makes my best friend Lily happy too. We have been friends since 1st grade except once I hit her and she didn't like me anymore.
A more serious stance on affirmative action and college campuses
by Jessica Y.
by Jessica Y.
I've heard the debates and even been in the midst of some, though I've usually kept my mouth shut in fear of being labeled the "minority" that loves "the system that helps her." Usually the argument will go something like this, "I have a friend that is such and such minority and she doesn't even know anything about her heritage and yet she's getting accepted to such and such prestigious school with such and such prestigious scholarship...that is so wrong and unfair." [Everyone in the room shakes their head and murmurs.] Keep in mind that I attend a school that is approximately 88% White, 4% Asian, 4% Latino, and 5% Black and the majority of the murmuring is coming from a sea of individuals who have never even grazed the topic of what it means to be a minority. While it is a shame that the aforementioned person has not explored their ethnic heritage, there are numerous reasons why one might feel disinclined to do so. Appreciating your ethnic heritage can sometimes be misinterpreted as trying to disassociate with the popular, dominant culture. Not trying to make excuses for anyone, but I know people have their reasons. While it would ideal if every minority grasped hold of their unique ethnic heritage, it DOESN'T MATTER because that's not how we view one another or define race. We define race by the color of one's skin; by the differences in one's eye shape. So how do we combat discrimination and categorization based on something so superficial? We work within the system we are given.
We must seek diversity for the sake of diversity.
Having a vast multitude of people who look different from one another on our college campuses will not bring diversity in the deeper sense of the word; it will not give us the enriching diversity of ethnic cultures coming together to share and learn from one another's various background and beliefs. In a country of immigrants whose children are growing up fully assimilated in American culture, we cannot expect or demand that these children form some sort of ethnic identity (though it would be nice.) We cannot expect that they will take diversity beyond just having a "bunch of minorities and White people together in one area." All we can hope for is that by putting people together that may look different from one another, they may just, eventually...interact with one another. When people are not familiar with the unknown they usually begin to fear it or conjure up false beliefs about what the unknown is like. The same applies to race. If you are not exposed to a certain race or have never interacted with a person of another race it would be easy to come up with false beliefs about what that race is like. Even if it's merely seeing another race and possibly passing by a person of another race in the hallway, realizing that the Black man you passed didn't flash some gang sign at you, or the Asian guy didn't happen to be carrying a fat calculator with him and sporadically flashing a peace sign at you. These seemingly meaningless interactions can serve to slowly diminish stereotypes and categorizations and help to ease the fears that seek to destroy any hope of healthy race relations. And as mentioned before, maybe, just maybe, we'll start talking to one another.
They're smiling, but are they talking?
For a minority to actually enroll in a school in which they know they will be underrepresented, is another story. What minority wants to be a minority? Affirmative action provides an incentive for minorities to enroll in universities they would otherwise not consider due to an overly homogeneous campus. Affirmative action provides scholarships that might make the final decision as to what school a minority chooses to go to. It may also boost the number of minorities at a certain school which increases the chance a future minority may consider going to a school. These minorities will know: there will be someone else that looks like me there. Silly as it may seem, but we base a good deal on what we look like vs. what someone else looks likes and sometimes just seeing a familiar face can ease our apprehension or awkwardness. Unfortunately, that is the power we have given race.
6 comments:
"If I don't get my trans fats I have writers block." You are too funny. =D
That is the first defense of affirmative action that actually makes sense to me.
Hey, Jessica, this is Tiffany. While I have read your defense of affirmative action, I have some fundamental areas of disagreement. The first is that it assumes a completely homogenous majority. Yes, I am white, but I am Italian... The Anglo-Saxon Americans actually discriminated against my ancestors, too. And when I went to BYU and signed up for S. European Family History, I was one of 3 students.
My uncle applied to medical school at a traditionally black school, and was called to ask what his race was. They even told him if he was black, then they would take him. How is this less racist? Yet affirmative action allows it.
I applied for many jobs to teach Chinese or to work in a Chinese position within a company. I actually had some companies tell me that they were trying to meet quotas. I was the most qualified candidate, but sorry... we need an Asian.
And my brother actually got his job with HP because they thought he was Hispanic. It was a job which they had specifically marked to fill a quota. When he showed up for the interview, they were shocked. Our surname sounds Hispanic, and he went on a mission to Guatemala. He got the job anyhow, but was really lucky.
At my high school, 80% of the student body were part Hispanic. Should I have felt alienated? I knew the 4 Asians and 2 African-Americans, too.
Diversity is a good thing, yes. But let's be realistic. If we removed Affirmative Action, would Asians magically disappear from BYU, unable to attend? And what of the next generation, where 13% of the kids will be 2 or more races? I more support scholarships based on need. And when it comes to the workplace, honestly it should be merit-based... don't ask, don't tell about race. Otherwise, your boss may or may not know anything about their job.
I feel affirmative action is a necessary evil in an imperfect world. It is unfortunate a system needs to be in place to protect people from discrimination. If there was a world without racism, we wouldn't need it. But we all agree racism does exist, even if no one is willing to admit they are racist.
I also think affirmative action is an out-dated system. Created in the 1960s to combat the overt racism actions of the era, a new system needs to be created to increase diversity. In today's world of subtle racism, affirmative action creates angry feelings and controversy. "Did I deserve this job?", "I'm tired of all these quotas", "I'm not racist, I just want the best person for this job" are all complaints of this system.
I could refute every anti-affirmative action argument, but that doesn't fix the system. (The idea of reverse discrimination is ridiculous. It's like a charitable wealthy person not getting tax relief. While you may have a bad experience, it pales in comparassion to the stings of racism.) Until we get a better system or cure racism, affirmative action is the best we have.
To Tiffany and such
I would rather that 1 allegedly qualified white person not get a job than for 100 non-white qualified persons be denied.
That 1 allegedly qualified white person would be able to find a job at any other work place if the person is really so qualified.
Whereas that 100 non-white persons who are denied in one work place, would be denied at another place as well.
And of course you would prefer the opposite and I do not blame you for that. But to say that because you have been denied acceptance to a program or a job because they were looking for one non-white person. What about the other 99 spots? They're probably already filled by white people which is why they had to make sure they hired just 1 non-white. So if you and your families were as qualified as you believe, then those other 99 spots were already reserved for you.
Don't let my statement of truth turn your heart towards racial discrimination, but let it open your eyes to see as I see, because I can see as you see.
Jess I'm really glad you put your views in writing. We've spoke about this numerous times, but I've really enjoyed reading it.
I like your concept that having a bunch of different ethnic people in the same place does not necessarily mean "diversity." It definitely means way more than that. If we can get to a point where we can work together without preconceived notions about one another and essentially not saying anything stupid, think of how much further along our world would be. It's frustrating that we have minimized our concept of race to superficial factors.
I would have to agree with Harry that affirmative action is a necessary evil. I think when the system was first created, it had the most effectiveness for the society at that time. But our society has changed lots since then and so it doesn't serve how it should. I like the concept, but I don't like how the system works. It's like our welfare or social security system. All of these programs have good ideas, but it's no way near perfect. I can see how affirmative action can put caucasians at the disadvantage, and maybe it is increasingly so, but right now this is the best we've got.
All I can say is that we either create a more perfect system, or brainwash everybody to love each other and not judge. Sadly, I don't think either one of these will happen.
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