Affirmative Action: Blum V. Harvard University

Improved Essays
Imagine being a highschool student that is not a minority group, about to finish the last year and looking for a college to enroll to. Having an overall GPA of 3.0 and good grades. However don't get in because a person with less qualifications gets enlisted. The right of the citizens to political and social freedom and equality. We should not allow employers or colleges to give preference to someone based on being apart of a minority group. Affirmative action is an fallout issue of the Civil Rights Movement in 1960s, it was to impact commensurate opportunities for members of minority groups and education and employment. Although how is it equal if someone is not being judged by their accomplishments. Affirmative action is racial discrimination …show more content…
It was a clear case of favoring certain racial group over others. “Quotas and racial balancing are strictly against the law.” Said Blum, who sued the University on behalf of white applicant over its Affirmative Action. This case went to the Supreme Court last year. The students were named anonymous but their qualifications were higher than the other group on the SAT and yet rejected. Affirmative Action also reinforces stereotypes and racism because of reverse discrimination. In 2011, Asian men and women earned more than white, blacks and hispanics in the United States (11 …show more content…
Sure, if someone doesn’t get into their first college, then they still have a chance at getting into another. While research varies, Affirmative Action in college admission offices is the equivalent of adding 150 to 310 points on an SAT score for a minority (11 Facts). Should that rejection be based on their achievements or skin color? The kid who goes to a college preparatory high school, earns good grades and who is involved should be admitted into college, but with affirmative action, the less knowledgeable kids get accepted in their place even though they aren't educationally ready.
Most people often believed that Affirmative Action gives minority groups more of an unearned advantage over others. Affirmative Action is reverse discrimination to people who aren't in minority groups. Colleges should not continue using Affirmative Action. It allows somebody who is less educated to go because of their race, and not their accomplishments. In the future we want to see their accomplishments. Now there is no need for it because Affirmative Action is making discrimination

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    This is a heated age and the policy of affirmative action is a controversial topic. Ever since it was first introduced in the 1960s, the court has affected the use of affirmative action significantly because its rulings upheld the policy’s constitutionally and made it more acceptable to the public. To begin with, it is important to acknowledge that the court was not the only arena in which affirmative action policies have been challenged. It has also been challenged in arenas such as college admission and the job application process. In my opinion, the case of Brown v. Board of Education had a significant impact on the introducing the affirmative action.…

    • 372 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Affirmative action, by definition, is an action or policy favoring those who tend to suffer from discrimination, especially in relation to employment or education. Using varying instruments and policies, Affirmative Action aims to help underrepresented groups have a better job opportunities or college admissions. Generations of people have been disadvantaged by institutionalized discrimination and one way to remedy this is to place a policy that evens out the playing field. There has been numerous legal cases against affirmative action concerning college admissions, and a few have made it as far as the Supreme Court including Bakke v. Regents, Univ. of California (1978), Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), Parents Involved v. Seattle School District (2007), and most recently Fisher v. University of Texas (2013 & 2016).…

    • 992 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Affirmative action policies allow for equal opportunity and throughout history have helped end discrimination in the workforce as well as many different type of organizations. Minorities are given the opportunity to compete for job opportunities and admissions to educational institutions. However, not everyone agrees with these types of policies and believe that this is a form of “reverse discrimination” against white individuals (1). These individuals argue that minorities that include people of color and women are given preference and although the qualifications may be the same amongst all, the minorities will be granted the opportunity simply because of their skin color or gender. In “Affirmative Action and Fairness” Robert Fullinwider discusses how affirmative action is viewed differently…

    • 1136 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Regents of the University of California v. Bakke Rose, 3 Regents of the University of California v. Bakke: Affirmative Action and Racial Quotas Abby Rose Liberty High School 3AB The famous court case of Regents of the University of CA v. Bakke has been a controversial court case dealing with affirmative action. Affirmative action usually is defined as special privileges or policies that favor a minority group or race. Even though the defendant, Allan Bakke, may have scored higher than some of the minorities that applied, he still did not get in because of his skin color. The university was picking students based on a racial quota, and the white quota for the university was met, that is why Bakke did not get accepted.…

    • 975 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This essay will explain why race should or should not be a factor in college admissions and why. The first reason that race shouldn’t determine college admissions is because every citizen in America, regardless of rights, equal rights. If a Hispanic has better tests scores than an African-American, has more community services, and has a better college resume, the Hispanic should be the student accepted. Now if the African-American had the better scores, services, and resume, than he should be the one accepted. It is as simple as who is best fit for the college.…

    • 543 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Affirmative action is a policy that was created to broaden opportunities for qualified minorities. The policy of affirmative action made it a requirement for employers to monitor hiring, promotions, and other policies to rid environments of discrimination against the minority. Those that support affirmative action see it as fair compensation for all that whites took from minorities in the past. In addition, supports claim that our society will never be truly colorblind and discrimination will continue; affirmative action creates opportunities for those who are segregated. Those that do not agree with affirmative action have the view that if people were mistreated in the past, it isn’t our problem now.…

    • 1341 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Affirmative action is probably one of the most misunderstood employment practices that we have discussed so far in class. When I first heard of affirmative action, others described as something beneficial only to African Americans. It appeared to be a quota system where you had to hire a certain number of black people in order to keep the government off your back. Some made it sound like the every black person benefiting from affirmative action were unskilled and undeserving. The main purpose of affirmative action was to reverse the long term effects of past policies that may have had discriminatory effect on individuals now protected by employment law.…

    • 705 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Abstract The Grutter v. Bollinger case is considered one of the Supreme Court Landmarks. This case, applying student, Barbara Gutter was denied acceptance into The University of Michigan Law School because of the university’s affirmative action police and her race. This case review covers the facts of the case, including the name of the case and its parties, what happened factually and procedurally, the judgment, the issues of what is in dispute, the courts holding, rationale, dissent of the Supreme Court members, party’s arguments, and personal commentary. (a) Facts (name of the case and its parties, what happened factually and procedurally, and the judgment)…

    • 1495 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Affirmative action is used in a good amount of employment and university systems. In Chandler Smith’s case affirmative action was used to decide who qualified for the five spots left to those who fit the school’s definition of diversity. Chandler being rejected when applying to the spot caused a two sided argument rise on if Chandler deserved to have been accepted or not. One side claims that she did not fit the description they were looking for for diversity and the school is allowed to do such a thing. The other argues Chandler should have been allowed to go because of her economic background and it is a violation to the restrictions surrounding affirmative action.…

    • 999 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Other people, however, believe the policy is outdated and causes a form of reverse discrimination by favoring one group over another based on whether a group was underrepresented rather than their academic achievement. Because there is no correlation between skin color and intelligence, affirmative action programs are unnecessary. Moreover, affirmative action policies are patronizing towards the underrepresented groups since it is implied that they need affirmative action to be successful in higher education. It is understandable why the opposition believes that reverse discrimination is being put in action because non-minorities are not able to benefit from affirmative action policies making it unfair for them to have a greater education. Also, this act of discrimination can be unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.…

    • 1049 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Affirmative Action Reform

    • 1793 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Collin Rust 11/28/2017 Professor Smith The Case for Reforming Affirmative Action Since affirmative action was first fashioned up and implemented by President John F. Kennedy on March 6th 1961 through the use of an executive order, the program that was designed to help boost the role of historically wronged racial classes (Sander, 2013). This was originally seen by many scholars as an absolutely necessary measure in order to help bring together a nation that had been historically divided by race. The main group set to be helped by this bold policy was that of African Americans. However, today affirmative action serves as a discriminatory measure in and of itself (Sander, 2013).…

    • 1793 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Definitions from Oxford English Dictionaries Ought- As an obligation, an act or course of action to which a person is morally or legally bound Reparations- The making of amends for a wrong one has done by paying money to or otherwise helping those who have been wronged African Americans- A black American Our weighing mechanism is, If we the negation can prove that reparations are not legally feasible, that they will not give a substantial benefit to African Americans or the U.S. then we will have won this debate.…

    • 699 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Affirmative Action Case Study

    • 1561 Words
    • 7 Pages
    • 4 Works Cited

    However, he notes, “truly meeting the needs of low-income students would require fundamental reforms in financial aid.” He alludes to the early days of the Penn Grant, which in the beginning covered 84% of college expenses, making attending college for the poor a real possibility. Today, the Penn Grant covers half that, or only 42% of the costs of college. For many low-income families, sending their kids to college has become a financial impossibility. Many poor students end up going to community colleges, the cheaper alternative.…

    • 1561 Words
    • 7 Pages
    • 4 Works Cited
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Achieving a diverse student body has been a goal within education since the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954) that “separate but equal” violated the Fourteenth Amendment. Lipson (2007) state selective universities has been practicing race-based affirmative action and other racial diversity policies since 1960s. Many institutions try to establish methods to diversify the student body that does not discriminate against any particular group of ethnicities. Kaplan (2014) states admissions policies may not unjustifiably (bolded for emphases) discriminate on the basis of characteristics such as race, sex, disability, age, residence, or citizenship. Some institutions have utilized Affirmative action…

    • 1635 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    College and Universities should search more alternatives to give priority to minorities such as African American students who are discriminated by other social groups. An example is to start proposing more laws or projects such as the affirmative action, which was approval in November 1996. This amended prohibit state governmental institutions from considering race, sex, or ethnicity, specifically in public education (Korbe 768). If schools create different types of protests and campaigns will help to reduce institutions to use race as an important factor to admission…

    • 1505 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays