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Brandan Alcorn
Paulson
C0150-016
17 April 2016
A strange cure that generates its own disease
College Students
I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the
content of their character, Martin Luther King Jr. This illustrious quote taken from his I Have a
Dream speech in 1963 delineates his pivotal focus of obtaining a colorblind nation. In 1961,
John F. Kennedy erected Affirmative Action to ensure equality in the workface and higher
education (Murphy). Stakeholders for the current policies in colleges of Affirmative Action
insist it helps disadvantaged people who come from areas of the country where there are not very
many opportunities to advance (Chasan). However in 1996, California passed the initiative
Proposition 209 amending the state constitution to impede state schools discrimination or
preference to any individual based on race or ethnicity (Slattery and Steffensen). Previous to this
proposition endured excessive failure rates in colleges (Slattery and Steffensen). Which
eventually lead to the number of Hispanic students to double in 8 years (Heriot). People arguing
against Affirmative Action agree its indisputable that these policies were necessary in our past
and obtaining students with diverse races coinciding in colleges is indispensable (Joshi). But
these policies can be essentially detrimental to minorities. The hidden dangers behind
Affirmative Action in colleges are the mismatch theory, demeaned minority achievement, low
grades, high dropout rates, and less minorities entering the STEM fields. Our country should
reform the current policies to a prudently race-neutral, class-based economic system in college

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admission practices. Theres also ideas to reform focusing on the root of the problem; home life
and early development. Affirmative Action attempts to mend racial disparities in colleges that
have tormented America for decades, but the policies dont establish an overall successful
solution. Instead it causes another source of resentment and tension between races and can
ironically hurts the individuals its recognized to assist.
Groups who want to keep the current policies in colleges of Affirmative Action believe it
helps disadvantaged people who come from areas of the country where there are not very many
opportunities to advance but going to college leads them to advantages they wouldn't otherwise
have (Chasan). It gives an equal playing field because for decades Caucasians have been given
unseen racial advantages over minorities (Chasan). This statement is partially true. Minorities
have long faced battles that many Caucasian college students haven't faces. However the issue
with our current policies explained by a John Hopkins minority student Rohi Joshi is that these
policies are only helping upper-class minority's and actually hurt lower-class minority's and
overrepresented races such as Caucasians, Indians, and Asians (Joshi). In 1996, California passed
the initiative Proposition 209 amending the state constitution to impede state schools
discrimination or preference to any individual based on race or ethnicity (Slattery and
Steffensen). Previous to this proposition California endured excessive failure rates in colleges
(Slattery and Steffensen). Admitted students to all University of California campuses who are
underrepresented minorities has gone up, not down, since the end of Affirmative Action in 1996
(Heriot). The percentage of admitted students who self-identify as Latino or Chicano more than
doubled, from 10.5 percent in 1997 to 22.2 percent in 2013 (Heriot). In 2004, upper economic
class kids were found to outnumber lower classed kids on selective campuses by 25 to 1 and on
highly selective campuses, 86percent of African American students are middle or upper class,

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and the White students are even richer (Kahlenberg). The logic behind Affirmative Action is to
give minority's advantages to offset the challenges they face in this country, which theoretically
these policies appear to help that issue but the real question is; shouldnt Affirmative Action in
colleges be based on economic factors and not irrelevant factors to bolster diversity? Today,
more than 80 K-12 systems seek to integrate rich and poor students; in states where the use of
race has been banned by voter initiative, almost all selective public universities have moved to
assist economically disadvantaged students (Kahlenberg). The complication is that a racist past
cant be mended through more racism. Race-conscious policies betray Martin Luther King's
dream of a color-blind country, and the racial admission practices serve as another source of
resentment and tension among races instead of mending. Some colleges are transitioning to an
economic based system and I believe its time every college transitions.
Accepting students into colleges with preferences of gender or race, not based on
academic achievement can be a very dicey act. It can lead to students being mismatched in
colleges they dont academically belong in. The Mismatch theory is when college admission
practices extend preferences to choosing students based on ethnicity, gender, and race (Heriot).
Which can often lead to students being academically unprepared compared to other students
(Heriot). Many people who support the mismatch theory are against phrases of reverse racism,
with Affirmative Action, they dont want any race including White students who have a legacy
to get special admission preferences because ultimately it leads to students in schools that are
intellectually to difficult (Heriot). There was an examination of a study in 2009 with the use of
these policies, a Black student with a comparable application to a Caucasian applying to an
equivalent university receives equal to a 310 point SAT boost (Murphy). Its believed that legacy
students receive a similar boost (Murphy). This theory also can lead to lowering the standards of

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accountability needed to push students for good grades or for after college careers of pushing
employees to perform better (Heriot). American students for generations are brainwashed into
thinking the label of a prestigious school is more critical than having good grades and learning
the material necessary for your career. The mismatch theory shows that racial or legacy
preferences can hurt students by lowering the chances of graduating college and gaining
preparation needed for career success.
Clarence Thomas is a suitable example for Affirmative Action demeaning his true
achievement of attending Yale (Joshi). Although he admits that he benefited from these policies
he found after graduation he had difficulties finding a job because businesses were skeptical of
his achievements (Joshi). Its preposterous that people in our country would assume just because
hes African American that he didnt earn his degree, but sadly those instances are initiated by
Affirmative Action. Ask President Obama, Oprah Winfrey, or Eva Longoria how they got to
where they are, was it hard work or Affirmative Action? Each achieved their positions through
diligence, and because they're passionate and intellectual. They would all undeniably be offended
if you said they got to where they were strictly because of Affirmative Action. The same can be
said of minority doctors, lawyers, and business leaders. Too often, their achievements are
demeaned by people who believe preferential treatment got them to their current positions
(Joshi). Affirmative Action causes minorities to work twice as hard to earn respect (Joshi). When
people do start to suspect the actions of these policies; the preferences have cock-eyed the entire
population and those people are accused of the very racism that justifies these preferences.
There are more drastic dangers that Affirmative Action can cause minorities to have low
grades, high dropout rates, and abandoning STEM field careers (Slattery and Steffensen). Gail
Heriot, a USD professor and U.S. Civil Rights Commissioner compares the dropout rates of

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minority students associating to the Affirmative Action. He discloses failure rates of 15 percent
of African-Americans paralleled to Caucasian students at 4 percent (Heriot). He explains that
high failure rates are induced with the Affirmative Action because schools accept students with
lower grades into elite colleges. In 2003 Cole and Barber published Increasing Faculty
Diversity: The Occupational Choices of High-Achieving Minority Students. Their findings were
disquieting, saying that in virtually all selective colleges using racial admission practices the
majority of African American students end up in the lower quarter class rankings (Barber and
Cole). Students abandoning their desired careers or even dropping out of college is often a result
(Barber and Cole). The engagements of Affirmative Action cause fewer minorities to embark on
careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. Studies show that
minorities tend to be more interested in STEM fields than White students (Slattery and
Steffensen). But by admitting students with lower high school grades and math testing scores
into elite schools with hard science and math programs it causes legacy and minority students to
abandon this degree (Heriot). These given disputes should encourage students to apply to
colleges in which their credentials match their fellow students. Which will efficiently lead to
minorities having higher grades, lower dropout rates, and obtaining their desired career.
Affirmative Action was a necessity in our countries past but today its hurting the students its
supposed to help.
Carefully constructed a prudently race-neutral, class-based economic system in college
admission practices is essential to transforming a more efficient Affirmative Acton. As quoted by
USA Today, even a longtime advocate of Affirmative Action President Obama agrees with this
system (Kahlenberg). Noting that his own economically and educationally privileged daughters
dont deserve a leg up in admissions just because theyre Black; and that low-income and

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working class students of all races do (Kahlenberg). Also noted by USA Today roughly 2-1 of the
American public oppose the current Affirmative Action policies and that same 2-1 support
preferences for low-income students of all races (Kahlenberg). Giving economic preferences can
also indirectly lead to the racial diversity the current policies strive for (Kahlenberg). A
Georgetown University study shows that inequality of socioeconomic students is very
widespread (Darapaneni). The study found that on 146 of Americas most selective colleges, 74
percent of the students are at the top socioeconomic sector of the population, and only 3 percent
from the poorest (Darapaneni). The substantial gap between those statistics is way too large to
disregard. California, Texas, and Florida have adopted the idea called the percent plan that
guarantees admission to state universities for the top 10% graduates of every high school in the
state (Darapaneni). Which successfully has generated more equal opportunities for the lowincome students with little resources (Darapaneni). These colleges have also added new
application questions to stimulate information on their socioeconomic circumstances and
obstacles theyve had to overcome. In a 2012 Century Foundation 7 out of the 10 leading public
colleges were examined (Kahlenberg). The schools using the percent plan were effectively
able to preserve an equivalent proportion of African-American and Latino students (Kahlenberg).
Income-based achievement gap is now twice the size of the race-based achievement gap. Which
shows the significance of why Affirmative Actions policies should do more to address the
economically disadvantaged students (Kahlenberg). The percent plan is the most promising
proposal to facilitate the more disquieting development in our country; the emergent economic
divide.
Although its more difficult than altering our policies of Affirmative Action many argue
that if substitute the current use of quotas to concentrating on the essence of the dilemma: youth

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development and education, we can successfully make a more level playing field (Murphy).
Whether you believe in his political views or not Doctor Ben Carson, a world-class neurosurgeon
millionaire, is an amazing success story, all starting with his mothers passionate actions to help
her kids. He grew up in poverty-stricken and violent Detroit with only his mother and brother
because his father abandoned his family at age 9 (Overbeck). Carsons mother Sonya was
married at 13, despite never going further than a 3rd grade education she knew the only
predominant action for her sons escape from the ghetto was education (Overbeck). Although she
was working three jobs at a time, she only allowed her boys to watch two hours of TV a week
while having to read two books each week along with a book report (Overbeck). Before long
Ben Carson moved himself from the bottom to the top, graduating top of his primarily White
high school and attending Yale (Overbeck). Showing that even an African American living in one
of the most torn American cities, with a single mother, who never got further than the 3rd grade,
can become extremely successful. Solving a complicated social issue as a country isnt easy, but
its possible. The first step is to invest more heavily in preschools, America is 21st in the world in
total investment in early childhood education relative to country wealth (Herman, Post,
OHalloran). We need more regulated national guidelines to get parents involved in their
childrens schooling. 2/3 of American parents believe they should be more involved in schooling
but due to lack of time find it very hard (Herman, Post, OHalloran). Schools need to make a
stronger effort to accommodate the varying needs of parents. We can also subside our current use
of quotes to pay for exposure of colleges to kids earlier, paid campus visits, ACT practice
classes, helping low-income students pay for applications, better academic support systems, and
parental counseling (Cohen). By far the most important system our high schools need to
implement is elucidating in depth, the close connections between education and careers (Cohen).

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Racism is still a setback in our country but the more worrisome trend is the lack of care in some
of our school systems (Bridgeland). If we centralize a reform of Affirmative Action by
substituting the current use of quotas that attempt getting diversity into colleges, to legislators
altering their concentrations to the essence of the dilemma: youth development and education
(Murphy). Its possible that if you fix the root of the problem, there wont be a need for racial
preferences practices because students of any race will earn their grade (Murphy). As Sonya
Carson on said Teach your child that setbacks are temporary, dogged persistence leads to
success, and victimhood is not an option.
Affirmative Action attempts to mend racial disparities in colleges that have tormented
America for decades, but the policies dont establish an overall successful solution. Instead it
causes another source of resentment and tension between races and can ironically hurts the
individuals its recognized to assist. The hidden dangers behind Affirmative Action in colleges
are the mismatch theory, demeaned minority achievement, low grades, high dropout rates, and
less minorities entering the STEM fields. A crucial goal of the millennial generation is to attain a
nation where skin color, gender, and nationality are inconspicuous, a country with equality and
fairness. Whether its substituting our efforts to early education and development, constructing a
prudently race-neutral class-based economic system, or both; we can take a giant step to
achieving this dream. David Sacks, a writer for Stanford, had a perfect quote illustrating my
findings about Affirmative Action, Its a strange cure that generates its own disease. Showing
that without reform, were taking steps back in our extensive journey of achieving a color blind
nation (Sacks).
"I have not given, received, or used any unauthorized assistance."

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May 2016.

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Heriot, Gail. "A "Dubious Expediency: How Race-Preferential Admissions Policies on Campus
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