Affirmative Action

by Arabi Mahanujam

Edited by Harvi Karatha & Riona Carrington, Layout by Tristan Castro

Affirmative action in the United States is defined as the active effort to improve employment or educational opportunities for women and minorities. It began as a way to dismantle the long-standing discriminatory policies against those groups. The policy was developed in order to enforce the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Nowadays, they can be seen in college admissions, businesses, and scholarships/grants for higher education. There have been arguments made for and against affirmative action. For example, people point to the low percentages of diversity and representation in higher education, media, positions of authority and more. Those who are against it argue that affirmative action allows less qualified minorities to take the jobs of those who are more qualified. There has also been minimal change to the status quo after decades of efforts against discrimination. All these arguments allow for a broad outlook on the basis of discrimination.

In the beginning, affirmative action used racial quotas until the Supreme Court mandated more constitutional methods. Now, it tends to use targeted goals in order to allow minorities and other groups, who have been discriminated against in the past, to get equal opportunities. Currently, eight states have banned it: California, Washington, Florida, Michigan, Nebraska, Arizona, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, and Idaho. What does it mean for minorities? According to The New Yorker, the system should legally be color-blind. We also want to understand the struggles of those facing racial and gender biases from a social perspective. As for the good that affirmative action has done, numerous studies have shown the benefits. Between 1974 and 1980, the rate of minority employment in businesses rose by 20%, and the female employment rate rose by 15.2% (New Yorker 2000). Poverty rates were also decreasing, as it went from 22% in 1959 to 12% in 1975.

In terms of college admissions, schools with race and gender conscious admissions policies saw an increase in diversity. Between 1976 and 2016, the percentage of Black and Latinx graduates and enrolled students had increased significantly. This proves that affirmative action did have a positive impact on eliminating racial bias. However, what are the disadvantages? Some say that affirmative action discriminates against other minority groups such as Asians. According to Vox, many Asian-American professors have spoken out about the issue and how they would not link the Asian community to affirmative action and that Asians should not be used to deny opportunities to the less privileged/disadvantaged. In fact, many people had considered this to be “racial mascotting” or using one minority group to undermine another. A lawsuit was filed against Harvard in 2014 by Edward Blum, a political strategist who used Asian Americans to accuse top universities of discrimination. The Court ruled in favour of Harvard to dismiss the claims. The struggles of Asians and other minority groups alike should not be used at the time of focusing on university bias against black and Latinx students.

Another major statistic that people point to when discussing affirmative action is test scores, specifically standardized tests like the SAT and ACT. In fact a 2009 book written by two Princeton sociologists showed data on how well each race would need to score in order to have an equal chance at admissions. It implies that a black student who scores 1000 on their SATs would have an equal chance of admission as a white student who scores 1310 or an Asian-American who scores 1450. This data has since been disputed among those who are in favour of affirmative action and those who are not. Nowadays, admissions is based on a holistic view of many different factors such as grades, test scores, extra-curriculars, leadership, athletics, essays, and more. This generally eliminates the ability of schools to discriminate based on gender or race.

In conclusion, affirmative action has benefitted minority students in the 1900s when gender and race based discriminations were heavily prevalent. It has also allowed for students with economic and educational disadvantage to get the same opportunities and resources as their peers. It has also fostered a more diverse environment in jobs, leadership positions, and more. Although there are advantages and disadvantages, the system is not perfect, and policies are working towards a more accommodating future for everyone.

References

Chang, A. (2018, March 28). Asians are being used to make the case against affirmative action. Again. Retrieved September 07, 2020, from https://www.vox.com/2018/3/28/17031460/affirmative-action-asian-discrimination-admissions

Joshi, Yuvraj (2019). "Racial Indirection". UC Davis Law Review. 52 (5): 74. SSRN 3312518.

Kenton, W. (2020, August 28). Affirmative Action. Retrieved September 07, 2020, from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/affirmative-action.asp

Menand, L., Hsu, H., & Sanneh, K. (2020, January 13). The Changing Meaning of Affirmative Action. Retrieved September 07, 2020, from https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/01/20/have-we-outgrown-the-need-for-affirmative-action