Affirmative Action good or bad?

[Raj]

I am a student at Seattle University. about 3 years ago, affirmative action was voted down and
taken out. the acceptance of minorities dropped dramatically at the University of washington.
this was one of the reasons I didn't apply there. today, University Of Washington does not have
affirmative action. and, admits fewer minority students. making it harder for minorities to
get in and through college.


what are your views on affirmative action?

 

[Killbat]

If you mean "Acme Inc. is required by law to have X number of minority employees.", then I am strongly opposed.

 

[reitz]

Bad, for all parties involved. We can never acheive true equality while certain groups are given special preferences.

 

[AvesPKS]

Quite frankly, the idea that anyone should be elevated above me just because of their race is repulsive. I quite honestly do not think it is right that some students at my school have scholarships just because they are a minority. It's just not right. So, in conclusion, I believe that affirmative action is bad.

 

[Raj]

don't you guys believe that its harder for minorities have much more going against them, as compared to Caucasian students.
and they deserve the extra advantage to help them get the education they deserve. i mean in a minority household the focus on the importance of education is not as strong as it is in a caucasian household. so, when a minority student has the ability to get in to and through college, is equally smart and intellegent as a caucasian student, but hasn't been given the same opporotunities as one, shouldn't that student be given the extra edge, because he/she didn't have the extra advantages that a White student does?

 

[AvesPKS]

So, are you saying that asians in america don't represent a minority? I know quite a few asian students at my school who got higher scholarships than I did that had nothing to do with their race. Also, I have no problem with students getting need-based scholarships; I just think that white students need the money just as much as minorities do.

 

[AvesPKS]

Not to say i'm singling out asians...I also know at least one black, indian, and hispanic student who got higher scholarships than me that had nothing to do with their race.

 

[ApacheXMD]

<< i mean in a minority household the focus on the importance of education is not as strong as it is in a caucasian household >>



bigot

-patchy

 

[FrontlineWarrior]

I'm not interested in the social right or wrong issue. What I'm more concerned with (selfishly in a sense) is that my school is pretty much all Whites and Asians. It gets REALLY old. Everyone is pretty much the same, and it's boring. I think it would serve the university better if we had some more diversity. Whether that is through AA or more aggressive recruiting, I don't care, but diversity would be nice for a change.

 

[Raj]

yes you know some minorities that have gotten higher scholarships than you.
but, thats an overgeneralization. just because you know a few colored
students that have done better than you doesn't mean anything. my point is
on average white students are more likely to succeed and get that college degree
and get that great job, and get that bmw and that house in the suburb. but, for
a minority its not. its tougher for a minority to do as well as a white student.
you mentioned money. nowhere did I say minorities need the money more than White kids.
most of my friends are not rich and white who are working very hard to get themselves
through school.

what I am saying is a minority has to work much harder to do as well as a white student.
so, they should be given that extra advantage.

 

[sciencewhiz]

The government shouldn't mandate affirmitive action. Saying that x% of your employees or x% of your students need to be minorites is discriminations (against white people).

Each university should be able to take any person that they want. If they want to admit a high number of minority students, that is their perogative. If they want to be all-white, they should be allowed that. There would be consequences for people who discriminate (boycotts etc.) If an organization wants to offer a scholarship for minorities, they should be allowed.

Edit: DiRF replied while I was typing this. If you don't like the racial make up of where you are, there is nothing stoping you (except possibly grades) from going somewhere else where it is much more diverse.

 

[ApacheXMD]

<< My point is on average white students are more likely to succeed >>




<< what I am saying is a minority has to work much harder to do as well as a white student >>



you're the one who's making prejudiced blanket statements and over-generalizing


-patchy

 

[Raj]

if the law could once keep minorities out of schools (de juro segragation)
then it should now help them get in to schools.
if the law once gave a white person privilages that a minorities didn't have
then it should now help us get those privilages.

 

[Raj]

<<you're the one who's making prejudiced blanket statements and over-generalizing>>



thats not overgeneralizations that is fact.

white students are more likely to succeed than colored students.

 

[AvesPKS]

So...if the minority students aren't getting money, what are they getting? Admitted? I don't know of any minority students here who just got accepted because they were a minority, and didn't get a scholarship for it. And what's this about working harder? I had to work damn hard in high school to get as far as I've gotten in collge. I don't see why my hard work should be cast aside just because some other person can be given an easier time just because of his/her race.

 

[Raj]

<<I don't know of any minority students here who just got accepted because they were a minority, and didn't get a scholarship for it. >>


you must not know that many people.


<<And what's this about working harder? I had to work damn hard in high school to get as far as I've gotten in collge>>


agreed, but, a colored person would've had to work much harder than you to get as far as you have.

 

[BoberFett]

Affirmative action is nice thought, but all it really does in the end is perpetuate racism.

 

[Dameon]

The University of Texas fought with this issue for most of the time I attended.
Personally, Affirmative action in the way it is implelemented is crap. Totally and utterly racist and gives racists an excuse to put down other races saying they need help. It is a constant monkey on the back of hard working minorities, as they are assumed to not have acheived through merit, only by handouts. It is the ultimate arrogance of the &quot;great white savior&quot; liberals who believe that the poor black race has to have help in order to survive. There ARE middle class minorities who had plenty of opportunities and did not come from inner cities. It is wrong for them to be treated by the system as more needy of assistance than poor whites who didn't have decent schools in poor rural areas.

Affirmative action based on FINANCIAL hardship is more direct, more proveable, and much less racially biased. It sends the message affirmative action was meant to send, that it is not right to leave those who had no OPPORTUNITY to wallow in ignorance generation after generation.

 

[Raj]

Bobberfett


refer to my fourth post.

 

[Chris A]

<< agreed, but, a colored person would've had to work much harder than you to get as far as you have. >>




That is BS if they are giving credit to people just because of the color of their skin.....


Raj, Any discrimination is bad no matter what the race......

 

[AvesPKS]

I know quite a few minority students at this school who didn't get accepted just because they were minority students. I know for a fact that my school doesn't have a quota system. I do know that some of the minority scholarship receipients here needed the money less than I do. And how would a minority student have to work harder than me? Your arguement has holes; you're assuming that all minorities have a lower socio-economic background as opposed to whites. I also happen to know a few white students here who came from lower down in the socio-economic ladder than some minority students; my problem is that, while the white students did get need-based scholarships, the minority students got scholarships regardless of whether they actually needed it or not.

 

[BoberFett]

Raj

Read my first post. That's all I have to say on the matter. The bad from AA far outweighs the good.

 

[ApacheXMD]

<< if the law could once keep minorities out of schools (de juro segragation)
then it should now help them get in to schools. >>


The law once allowed for black slavery.
I suppose now, to make up for it, we should enslave all non-blacks.

Your logic is flawed.

Two wrongs do not make a right. Affirmative Action is bias.
Any bias, no matter what the intention, is inherently a bad thing

-patchy

 

[Raj]

we obviously have a difference in opinion.
you may argue that any bias is wrong.
you may argue that this is a form of discrimination against Whites.

however, not all but many and most minorities have to work harder to get the same jobs, same pay, admissions in school, then the majority Whites do.


how can you keep minorities suppressed for hundreds of years, and then suddenly expect them to be able to compete with the White majority who has centuries of advantage at there side.

 

[AvesPKS]

<< how can you keep minorities suppressed for hundreds of years, and then suddenly expect them to be able to compete with the White majority who has centuries of advantage at there side. >>




Centuries of advantage? I'd like to know where this went...seeing as any advantage my ancestors had seems to have skipped me.