Discrimination or "Diss"crimination

Affirmative action, a highly controversial topic in the United States, is defined as “a policy or a program that seeks to redress past discrimination through active measures to ensure equal opportunity, as in education and employment.”

I chose to discuss affirmative action as it relates to higher education and admissions standards. While some may think of affirmative action as a positive, necessary measure in order to secure equitable educational opportunities for all, there are also negative aspects to affirmative action policies and programs. The drawbacks have recently drawn the attention of the United States Supreme Court in ruling whether universities can use race as part of their admission standards (Grutter v. Bollinger, 2003), or whether it unfairly discriminates against majority groups who are more highly qualified.

Supporters of affirmative action policies and programs believe that it eliminates discrimination and presents opportunities for achievement that might not otherwise be possible without it. While some proponents of affirmative action believe that it is intended to eliminate discrimination, it ultimately creates another area of discrimination—against majority groups (e.g. Caucasian males). Through affirmative action, those who may have higher test scores may not be accepted if the school quota requires the acceptance of a minority with a lower test score.

The most obvious drawback to affirmative action is reverse discrimination, or “discrimination against members of a dominant or majority group, especially when resulting from policies established to correct discrimination against members of a minority or disadvantaged group.”

Even with the Supreme Court’s ruling, affirmative action is still a touchy subject between those for and against it. These policies were set in place over 30 years ago as an answer to the discrimination faced by minorities in this country at that time. Things have changed since then, and I believe that there are definite changes that should be made with regards to education and the standards used to admit qualified students. Replacing one form of discrimination with another is illogical and, ultimately, unfair.