Affirmative Actions: Debate

In case there was a deadline or something that stated this blog had to be submitted by 11:59 PM on February 12, I'm sorry. :/ My computer wasn't working then, so I had to get this in in the morning.

Following today's debate in class, I believe that just because we have elected Barack Obama as our president, does not mean we should get rid of affirmative actions. I feel like colleges need to continue supporting minorities in terms of getting into college, because given that not everyone is given equal oppurtunity to thrive in the best conditions, we can say that minority tends to be left with the least money and the worse living conditions. Therefore, giving them a chance does not make them any more privileged than the rest of the the world, it does not make colleges 'racist'. Rather, it would be giving everyone an equal chance because there are, for example, the majority who are innately more advantangeous than others. Giving the minority more oppurtunities would simply be putting them on the same level and the majority.

Of course, the better way to judge whether or not a student should be accepted into college with affirmative actions would probably be to look at the level of their education, or the money which they have, and based upon that, decide whether or not helping them is truly necessary. However, if one grows up in a poor, lowly environment, that surely affects the choices they can make in their lives and the roads they can take whether it's in their education or something else. Some minorities just can't help it; they aren't given the chance. It's up to colleges to recognize those with disadvantages and bring them to the level of others in the big crowd, for if this were not done, then we would have an extremely unequal number of whites, let's say, in our top colleges today, for they would have been given the oppurunity to enhance their backgruond all their lives, while the minority are limited.

Some may argue that given the oppurtunity, the minority would not succeed, or would not put a college experience to good use. However, there are those who succeed. If those who have the potential to become successful in society are put down at such an early stage in their lives, you might as well continue letting the majority dominate. If minority aren't given the chance, they will be left behind. After being released into society after college life and grad school, etc., minority are bound to face the challenges of making it to the top in a world dominated by the majority. They will have to look for other oppurtunities and jobs which do accept them, at that point in their lives. I'm not denying the fact that minorities are naturally looked down on anyway. But it's unjust to restrict them from the greater oppurtunities in the world at such an early stage in life as college. The least the government can do is allow for the minorities to rise above others in this one area, for it is highly possible that it will be more difficult for oppurunities to rise in their later lives. Perhaps if they were given better environments to thrive in and better colleges to study in, then they could have greater possibilites of surviving and succeeding in life after college.

Although in the general the world is dominated by the white man, there are the few minority who have become successful role models, leaders, and politicians. THere have been several of those from the past, already. Perhaps we need more of those, and if affirmative actions are put on halt, there is no doubt that they will continue to be surpressed by the picky and selective hands of life which favor whites.

Barack Obama becoming president, thus, does not change anything, in this matter. SOme people believe that race is a weak factor to be judging upon for affirmative actions. However, we all know that racism plays a huge role in the oppurtunities people are provided with, and the advantages they can have.