Essay Prompt #3 An issue I’d like to solve in the United States is effects of affirmative action. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, affirmative action is defined as “an active effort to improve the employment or educational opportunities of members of minority groups and women.” Affirmative action policies generally relate to employment and education opportunities. In regards to education, specifically college, affirmative action relates to admission guidelines that implement fair and equal opportunities to education for those members that have historically been discriminated against one’s own ethnicity, race, or gender. Although, affirmative action policies have historically been relevant in improving the opportunities of historically
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As a second generation Vietnamese American, I would unquestionably fall under the influence of affirmative action programs. Although, initially affirmative action programs should be helping, in reality it can also work against. This is a relevant example in several colleges in California, where I would like to apply. Some examples are University of California: San Diego (UCSD), University of California: Irvine (UCI), and University of California: Los Angeles. Using UCI as an example, two major groups that make the majority of the students are 46.2% Asian and 27.1% Hispanic/Latino. The controversy surrounding affirmative action programs is: can it work against a specific race/gender/ethnicity (“reverse discrimination”). In a selective college such as UCI, where the majority of the students are Asian (which illustrates an overrepresentation), affirmative action can work against other Asians who apply. A group of people who are least likely to benefit from affirmative action are Asian Americans. Despite high test scores and extracurricular activities, Asian Americans have the lowest acceptance rate to top and Ivy League colleges. Therefore, I would like to solve this …show more content…
If affirmative action is meant to achieve diversity in colleges by giving all people equal opportunities to education (or employment), then preference should not be given on account of one’s own race, rather it should be given on one’s own unique characteristics. Affirmative action is an insult to minorities by the claim, “that only minorities can add certain ideas or perspectives.” This is offensive to minorities because not only is it untruthful, it also implies that all minorities think a certain way. Therefore, to achieve diversity in colleges without race/ethnicity/gender discrimination, a blind strategy performed at Harvard has proven effective in achieving this diversity. Through the approach of “[meaningfully supporting] economically disadvantaged yet high-achieving students of all races, opening the doors to substantial numbers of community-college transfers, and ending legacy preference to the children of alumni”, Harvard achieved a greater diversity for African Americans and Latinos/Hispanics. However, there is much more that can be done to achieve a greater diversity. In conclusion, affirmative action is a desirable goal to achieve racial/ethnic/gender diversity in colleges, however, America needs new, improved, and more reasonable ways to get to the goal of diversity instead of using race as a proxy to meet
As a second generation Vietnamese American, I would unquestionably fall under the influence of affirmative action programs. Although, initially affirmative action programs should be helping, in reality it can also work against. This is a relevant example in several colleges in California, where I would like to apply. Some examples are University of California: San Diego (UCSD), University of California: Irvine (UCI), and University of California: Los Angeles. Using UCI as an example, two major groups that make the majority of the students are 46.2% Asian and 27.1% Hispanic/Latino. The controversy surrounding affirmative action programs is: can it work against a specific race/gender/ethnicity (“reverse discrimination”). In a selective college such as UCI, where the majority of the students are Asian (which illustrates an overrepresentation), affirmative action can work against other Asians who apply. A group of people who are least likely to benefit from affirmative action are Asian Americans. Despite high test scores and extracurricular activities, Asian Americans have the lowest acceptance rate to top and Ivy League colleges. Therefore, I would like to solve this …show more content…
If affirmative action is meant to achieve diversity in colleges by giving all people equal opportunities to education (or employment), then preference should not be given on account of one’s own race, rather it should be given on one’s own unique characteristics. Affirmative action is an insult to minorities by the claim, “that only minorities can add certain ideas or perspectives.” This is offensive to minorities because not only is it untruthful, it also implies that all minorities think a certain way. Therefore, to achieve diversity in colleges without race/ethnicity/gender discrimination, a blind strategy performed at Harvard has proven effective in achieving this diversity. Through the approach of “[meaningfully supporting] economically disadvantaged yet high-achieving students of all races, opening the doors to substantial numbers of community-college transfers, and ending legacy preference to the children of alumni”, Harvard achieved a greater diversity for African Americans and Latinos/Hispanics. However, there is much more that can be done to achieve a greater diversity. In conclusion, affirmative action is a desirable goal to achieve racial/ethnic/gender diversity in colleges, however, America needs new, improved, and more reasonable ways to get to the goal of diversity instead of using race as a proxy to meet