Monday, the Supreme Court agreed to review a new case on affirmative action in public universities. The case, Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, comes from a voter initiative approved in Michigan in 2006 by 58 percent, which prohibited the use of race as a factor to gaining college admission at state universities, as well as government contracting and public employment.
The Court of Appeals ruled late in 2012 that the state’s initiative violated the equal protection clause of the Constitution and that it hindered minorities in pressing for change, according to The New York Times.
Boston University implements an affirmative action policy, which serves to “achieve equal opportunity through recruitment, outreach, and internal reviews of policies and practices.”
What this vague wording translates to when it comes to an applicant’s folder in the admissions office remains somewhat unclear, but the fact remains that as far as we have come as a society, if policies like these remain pervasive in the world of academia, we inhibit ourselves from striving for a race-blind society.
Public and private universities — not to mention the country in general — need to move beyond practices of corrective justice, which, as well-intentioned as they may be, only perpetuate racial stereotypes and discrimination. If two students are on the same academic level and one is given preferential treatment based solely on race or ethnicity, it almost serves to undermine that individual’s abilities. Essentially, affirmative action policies ultimately communicate that society has lower expectations for minorities, which almost seems insulting to those individuals whom the policies concern.
Consideration for placement at university, or anywhere for that matter, should ultimately be based on merit. This is not to say that other factors should not be considered; region and socio-economic status seem like two completely reasonable elements to consider in the admissions process, and logically should carry far more weight than any other circumstantial factor.
Of course, coming down against affirmative action remains somewhat taboo due to connotation, but on a purely logical level, any evaluation of an individual’s intellect or ability that is based on race is inherently discriminatory. Perhaps the state of Michigan, as well as Boston University and similar institutions, should reexamine their policies and how those policies interact with their core values, if they hope to move forward anytime soon.
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
Every White country on the planet is forced to become multicultural and multiracial.
EVERY white country is told to end its own race and culture.
No one asks that of ANY non-White country. Immigration and forced-assimilation is for ALL & ONLY White countries.
Anti-Whites call themselves “anti-racist”, but their words & actions lead to the genocide of only one group: White people.
The true goal of anti-racism is to genocide my people.
Anti-racist is a codeword for anti-White.