The Argument For Affirmative Action

Equity is an ideal that is often overlooked in today’s world of hustle and bustle. It is often masked by the word equality. You see, what distinguishes equity is the way it signifies equal opportunity. It means lifting people up so that everyone races on a level playing field. Take for example, a competition of reaching an apple on a tree branch. Equality is letting a short and tall man just compete as is; however, equity means giving the short person a stepping stool. If we want to live in a world where we value equity, a world in which no one starts behind another, and a world where no one is left behind, we need affirmative action.

Despite what many believe, we have not reached a point of equal opportunity. Now, many Americans think we have done all that we can to close the barrier and that people really do have the same chance to succeed. At this moment more than ever that is actually enormously untrue. Though the era of slavery and Jim Crow laws may be long gone, the effects, are still believe it or not, still painfully apparent. It’s all about context. Discrimination and supression of the past has carried into the future with a vengeance. It is a fact that African Americans and LatinX students are systematically at a disadvantage. Starting from the very beginning, black students are 3X more likely to be suspended for the same infractions, white individuals are on the whole 5X richer than African Americans, and black unemployment and poverty are 2X that of whites. These numbers are not a coincidence. Our horrendous history in relation to race has not just been left in the past. There is still a need to remedy history as we have not come close to fixing it. Affirmative Action is not unfairly giving ‘preferential treatment’, but instead bringing our education system to a point where it can be a catalyst for creating a holistically more equitable country. Using a color blind system will allow us to ignore the inherent inequalities that already exist.

I do want to acknowledge the questions that continuously come up about fairness. With the raging lawsuit against Harvard University regarding discrimination against Asians, many have been lead to question whether Affirmative Action hurts other minorities. While the jury (or rather judges– pun intended) is still out, it is still important to remember the connection between intersectionality and the extent of oppression. Although the model minority myth places an unfair and painful burden on Asian Americans, it inevitably affords Asian Americans a sense of legitimacy and respect; a privilege that Black and LatinX communities do not possess. I think this is important to remember while considering Affirmative Action. Further than that, many Asian American advocacy organizations have debated against the fact that Asians are hurt as part of Affirmative Action and 69% of Asian and Pacific Islander voters in California support it.

Without Affirmative Action, it would be infinitely easy to start falling back into similar oppressive historical patterns. I don’t pretend to have all the answers. I am not saying the system is perfect and I am not saying it is completely just. However, without it, we risk becoming a country that takes an unpleasant and destructive trip back to the past. We risk not remedying our country’s mistakes. Whatever happens, we just have to make sure that minority communities are not divided, fruitlessly arguing about this issue. The reality of the matter is this country holds adversities for every minority community, and when we let arguments on one certain issue divide us, it hinders all of our progress. So whatever you think, I would encourage you to keep an open mind and really try to listen to the other side. WHICH IS WHY, my dad actually wrote his two cents in opposition to Affirmative Action. Go check it out at www.rickyahuja.com!!