In this week’s edition of “The Campus Conservative” (“Where did equality go?” page 4, Nov. 14) the policy of affirmative action was questioned, and to some extent, rightfully so. However, what I fail to see is the idea of how affirmative action is detrimental to society as a whole.
The unfortunate fact is that minorities have a lower income than non-minorities. I do not believe that this is because minorities are inherently inferior, nor do I believe that Ms. Stroll has this belief. But there is something that causes this inequality between races.
Whatever the cause of this inequality, the purpose of affirmative action is to change the results. Since affirmative action was instituted by both Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, women and minorities have climbed the socio-economic ladder, which provides us with the great diverse population and the diverse student body we have at Boston University, since more minorities can afford the tuition and send their kids to this great institution. Is the country and society better for it? I think so. With a more economically and racially diverse student population, it exposes students to other races they might not have otherwise interacted with. For example, one of my friends from high school attends Auburn University in Alabama. In a school with an undergraduate enrollment of over 18,000 students, he has only seen an Asian student twice in his two years there.
If the admission of more minorities really hurts white students, I have yet to see any real proof. From what I see in this world, poverty among white people has not increased. The median income of white families has not increased either. It’s a good thing that colleges have policies to help these poor white people get into college; I mean poor George W. Bush overcame a C average at an elite New England preparatory school and he overcame a 1200ish SAT score to get into Yale. Yale knew he had it rough and because of his father, George W. Bush was able to live the American dream of riding off your father’s success.
With Ms. Stroll, referring to Justice Sandra Day O’Connor as disastrous, I must disagree. But that is a different debate for another letter to the editor. However, something to think about, when appointing a new Supreme Court justice, if the court is going to rule on such issues as women’s rights, rights to privacy and abortion (which physically affected the woman carrying the fetus), wouldn’t it be helpful for the Court to have a few justices that are, say … women?
I’m sure Samuel Alito is very qualified; he has gone to some of the best schools in the country, but something you can’t learn in school is what it’s like being a woman. This is why it is important to have a woman take O’Connor’s seat on the Court.
Ryan Pham CAS ’08
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