Fisher vs University of Texas: Is Affirmative Action Necessary?

Recently the Supreme Court took up a case on affirmative action and the outcome could cause changes in the policy nationwide.

Abigail Fisher claims that she was not admitted into the University of Texas at Austin in 2008 because less qualified minority students were chosen over her.

Obviously it is wrong to select someone for a job or admission purely on the basis of their skin color. However, if two candidates of different races have the same qualifications the edge should be given to the minority. We have to show special attention to minorities or minorities will receive no attention at all.

Let's talk about what affirmative action is because most have a casuistic concept of what it is. Affirmative action is not a quota system, it is NOT A REQUIREMENT and it is not unfair. It simply allows publicly funded organizations to use race as a small factor in the selection process. This was ruled by the Supreme Court on several occasions. According to affirmative action, race can only be one factor among many.

Affirmative action gives opportunity where there would otherwise be none. If society took a look at the narrative of a minority family people would understand this. A typical black family consists of a single mother and a few kids. Seeing that this family has only one parent present the family receives only one paycheck to survive on. The mother is faced with a tough decision; either choose to keep one job and be able to teach her kids but with little money or work 2 or 3 jobs and not have any time to spend with her kids. This results in the children having problems at home. They are forced to go days without lights or water or food, or are subjected to raise themselves because their mother is always working. When these children go to school we cannot expect them to be interested in whether 2x + 3x is congruent to 3x + 2x, their mind is focused on their problems at home. Their mind is thinking of how their family will have supper tonight. These children wind up not learning very much in school and make low test scores and consequently aren't able to go to college for financial and scholastic reasons. These children grow up to be adults and settle for minimum wage jobs for a source of income. These adults start families and realize that minimum wage is not enough to survive. The dad has no qualifications for a well-paying job and he resorts to crime attempting to support his family. The dad is put into prison or leaves his family ashamed that he cannot support them leaving the single mother alone and the cycle repeats itself. If the next generation grew up and made decent SAT/ACT test scores equal to someone from more privileged backgrounds why not give them a chance? Success is not guaranteed but why not give someone an opportunity? Their lives are setup for failure all they can ask for is an opportunity.

We hear a number of whites say affirmative action is discrimination against whites. Well it is, but it is necessary to compensate for the discrimination already taking place against minorities. If whites made up less than 15% of the population, as most minorities do, they would be begging for an equal opportunity while trying to coexist in a country full of others. If these whites being discriminated against were equally qualified what is the big fuss about? Is it life threatening that he/she has to settle for Yale instead of Harvard because a minority student was admitted over him/her? Is it so serious that he/she has to settle for $109k a year instead of $110k a year? If someone is qualified chances are that person will get what they earned. It is utterly ridiculous that whites, who make up 72% of America's population, are playing the race card.

There will come a time when affirmative action is no longer needed for Blacks, Hispanics, and other racial minority groups to have an equal opportunity. However, even after, affirmative action will continue to be necessary. Affirmative action is needed for all disadvantaged individuals. Individuals such as, women in the workplace, such as males who are becoming a minority in colleges and universities, even poor white families. Whether it be race based, sex based, age based, need based, affirmative action will be necessary until the day all Americans receive a fair chance at the American Dream.