Affirmative Action or Preferential Treatment by Ashley Thomas (FGCU)

            A Caucasian senior in high school applies for college. He has a 3.8 GPA and excellent scores on his SAT and ACT tests. His essay is well written and meets all the requirements of the college. Another senior, a student of Native American descent, applies for the same college. She has a 3.6 GPA and also scored well on his tests. Though her essay was a little sub-par, she gets accepted over the Caucasian student. Why do you think this is? We have affirmative action to thank for situations like these. Though created with good intent, programs like this have actually widened the gap between race and gender. Instead of making sure all races and gender have the same opportunity, affirmative action has actually furthered the notion of “me vs. them”.

            Though affirmative action has done some good, I feel it hasn’t done enough to be considered effective. Nearly 97 percent of corporate senior executives in the United States are white. Only 5 percent of all professionals are black, and Hispanics hold only 4 percent of white-collar jobs even though they make up 7.5 percent of the work force.

            Equal opportunity programs are turning into preferential treatment programs. Programs like these often ignore the claim of need and lean towards the minorities. For example, disadvantaged white males have been denied benefits while minorities who aren’t in need of them have been lavished with perks. The burden of compensation is being placed on white males who are seeking jobs or further education. Why should this burden be on them when they are no more responsible for past injustices or mistreatment than any other group? It seems unfair that they should be found responsible for carrying the burden themselves.

            I feel affirmative action and similar programs actually harm minorities and women by devaluing their achievements and abilities. These programs further the notion to minorities and women that they are being accepted because their numbers are under represented and not because their achievements adequately qualify them. This undoubtedly leads to feelings of incompetence, self-doubt, and ironically, inferiority.

            Twenty-five years ago, 80 percent of the student population at University of California, Berkeley was white. Today, that number is 25 percent. It is no doubt that affirmative action and similar programs are the source of this statistic. While equal-opportunity programs have fairness and equality in mind, they have quite the opposite effect. I feel that instead of stressing fairness and focusing on being so politically correct all the time, we should be driving home the importance of hard work and a competitive yet friendly spirit. The treatment you get should be based on what you do, and not what you are.

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