Injustice For All
Affirmative action was originally a law that was passed to give minority students equal advantage into universities. Is it fair to pave the way for minority students because of the color of their skin or their cultural background? Is it justifiable to admit these students into the schools of their preference and deny admittance to students who have earned higher marks? Affirmative action needs to be reevaluated to determine its outcome on students. The affirmative action law is hurting the minorities in the university education system.
Students with inferior academic credentials are admitted in order to achieve proportional representation of races or simply to increase diversity on campus. "Many selective universities are so famished for minority students that they will accept virtually anyone of the right color who applies. In order to fulfill affirmative action objectives, university admissions officers cannot afford to pay too much attention to the probability of a student succeeding at the university" (D'Souza, Dinesh "Illiberal Education," pg.37).
Often, a single check mark in a box labeled African American, Hispanic, American Indian, or one of several other underrepresented minorities listed in the ethnicity section of a college application, can mean the difference between acceptance and rejection. Although diversity is an important part of a liberal education, it is by no means its only goal. No liberal education can be said to take place where there is an atmosphere of resentment and injustice, as is the case on most universities where affirmative action is practiced today. An aggressive race-based affirmative action program contradicts the idea of a liberal education. Not only is it unfair to those students with superior academic credentials who are denied admission because of their skin color, but also it breeds intolerance, does not solve the problem of diversity on campus, and...