In terms of college admissions, affirmative action is the policy of favoring members of a certain group, such as an ethnicity or gender, often in order to increase diversity on campus. Another reason for affirmative action is that this policy is advantageous to groups who have faced disadvantages and have suffered from discrimination within a culture. The use of affirmative action in the United States has been a topic of heated debate for decades, since the first use of the phrase in Executive Order 10925 in 1961. The hot topic has received more attention in recent light because of the string of events surrounding the Fisher v. University of Texas Supreme Court case.
In 2008, a white student named Abigail Fisher, blamed affirmative action for not getting into the University of Texas. Fisher sued UT for racial discrimination. "There were people in my class with lower grades who weren't in all the activities I was in, who were being accepted into UT, and the only difference between us was the color of our skin," she had stated.
Fisher claims that her rejection was due to "reverse racism" because she is white; however, recent studies show that affirmative action actually favors white women over minorities. But this is one case among many. Is affirmative action an ethical policy? I'll try to remain as unbiased as possible as I go through the arguments made on both sides.
Is affirmative action discriminatory?
The University of Texas, as well as many other universities, supplements their admissions decisions with a race-conscious holistic evaluation. Because this process benefits certain ethnic groups more than others, it is often viewed as discriminatory or unfair against the groups it does not favor.
Many argue that affirmative action is not racist, but just. The policy favors the ethnic groups that have been disadvantaged and therefore helps bring everyone on more equal footing.
How important is diversity anyway?
Colleges benefit by having representation from many cultures because people with different backgrounds liberate each other from an ethnocentric view of the world. Affirmative action keeps college campuses diverse. Many view diversity to be more important than a race-neutral admission process. Diversity necessitates the use of affirmative action. While affirmative action may hurt a small group of people, it benefits the community as a whole. The end justifies the means.
However, some critics argue that colleges are too vague about who they want to help. Sure they want to help students based on "diversity" and "need." But who do they mean exactly? They also seem to ignore the fact that while there may be a correlation between "diverse" students and disadvantaged students, they aren't exactly always the same thing.
The Fisher vs. University of Texas case has been tossed around for years, starting in the lower courts, working its way to the Supreme Court, returning to the Fifth Circuit, and finally ending up in the Supreme Court again. On June 29, 2015, the Supreme Court made the announcement that they would hear another challenge to UT's admissions process. The case, assigned docket number 14-981, will be heard soon in the court's fall session. The decision will set an important precedent, implying how universities around the country should implement affirmative action.
