By: Avery Wu
Post #7
December 26th, 2022
What is affirmative action?
Affirmative action is a practice of considering student background characteristics such as race as a factor in deciding whether to admit an applicant. Many selective schools utilize affirmative action because they recognize that there is unequal access to educational opportunities in the US. The use of racial quotas, in which colleges reserve a designated number of spots for students based on their race and admit them exclusively on that basis, was ruled unconstitutional in the 1978 Supreme Court case Regents of the University of California v. Bakke. Some critics argue that race-conscious admissions amount to racial discrimination, harming white and Asian American students. According to a 2022 Pew Research Survey, 74% of adults believe that race should not be considered when looking at an applicant. Although still widely used, affirmative action has been banned in 9 states including California and Michigan.
Controversial Cases
Harvard University and the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill have been under the spotlight since 2014 when cases were filed against them regarding the unlawful use of affirmative action. Anti-affirmative activist Edward Blum claimed that Harvard discriminated against Asian Americans. Petitioner Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) sued the University of North Carolina (UNC) over its admissions process, alleging that the process violates the Fourteenth Amendment by using race as a factor in admissions. Both of these cases have gone to the federal trial court, with both universities prevailing. We can expect a decision from the Supreme Court in 2023.
If the Supreme Court decides to crack down on affirmative action, it is very possible that diversity in these selective schools will decrease significantly. Observers point to negative effects on campus representation in states that prohibit affirmative action. For instance, a 2020 study examined 19 public universities in the states that had affirmative action bans starting around the mid-1990s. It found that the number of Black, Hispanic and Native American students enrolled at the nine surveyed flagship universities was 11.2 percentage points less than the share of high school graduates from these demographic groups in the states where the schools are located. This gap rose to13.9 percentage points immediately after the ban and, by 2015, to 14.3 percentage points.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Help reduce wealth gap
- Better education opportunities for minority groups
- Lower unemployment rate and higher salaries for minorities
- Help promote diversity
- Help people climb socioeconomic ladder
Cons:
- Prefers certain minority groups
- Better chances for one group means worse chances for another
- Promotes stereotypes
- Incentive to work hard might get lost
- May increase social tensions
My thoughts and opinions on affirmative action
Clearly, there are many pros and cons to affirmative action in college admissions. Compromises can be made to make college admissions fairer for everyone. Even with affirmative action, there are still many problems with the college admissions process that I believe need to also be fixed such as legacy admissions. I don't know if affirmative action is the solution to those problems. Affirmative action has proven to be controversial and I think it will continue to be in the future.
Sources Used:
How Does Affirmative Action Affect College Admissions? - US. News
Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard - LawyersCommittee
Timeline of UNC and Harvard Admissions Case - UNC-Chapel Hill
Supreme Court Will Hear Challenge to Affirmative Action at Harvard and U.N.C. - NY Times
29 Key Pros & Cons Of Affirmative Action
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