Research Assignment Paper Disagreement of Affirmative Action

Disagreement of Affirmative Action
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Disagreement of Affirmative Action
Affirmative action is aimed at increasing the number of Hispanic and African American learners at universities and colleges throughout the United States. Colleges and universities can still be made diverse even without affirmative action. Even though colleges should be more diverse, I believe that affirmative action should not be used in college admissions because college admittance should be based on academic performance, not race. The use of race in college admissions is a form of racism. Everybody should have an equal chance to get into college.
Merit should be prioritized in admissions, not race
Colleges and universities should use merit rather than race in their student admission plans, and race-neutral laws should be adopted. This is a view that most people uphold. For example, 53 percent of Democrats and 87 percent of Republicans have a preference for race-neutral admission decisions (Jones). Also, two-thirds of all American citizens think that the admission of applicants has to be based upon merit, even if it leads to the admission of fewer minorities, whereas 28 percent think that race should be considered in order to foster diversity on college campuses (Jones). Various states have outlawed the use of affirmative action, including Washington, Nebraska, Florida, New Hampshire, Arizona, Oklahoma, Michigan and California (Hartocollis).
A number of court cases assert that colleges and universities can achieve student diversity through the use of race-neutral alternatives (Hartocollis). The Supreme Court has heard some cases challenging affirmative action programs in higher education. In the year 2003, it held that the undergraduate admissions process at the University of Michigan which automatically gave minority applicants additional points in its admissions formula was unlawful (Jones). In essence, public universities should find other ways of increasing diversity, for instance by following the example of the University of Michigan. In Michigan where affirmative action is banned, the University of Michigan is seeking to attain student diversity by reaching out to minority students such as black and Hispanic learners after they have been given admission to convince them to accept (Hartocollis...