Minorities Having Advantages | Teen Ink

Minorities Having Advantages

January 14, 2010
By karl.s SILVER, Houston, Texas
karl.s SILVER, Houston, Texas
5 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Should minorities have acceptations on getting extra points on their college application? Do they deserve the extra points to get in the college they want? Affirmative action are policies that develop to give preference to certain groups in college admission and hiring racial minorities, women, and those from poor families. I disagree with affirmative action; I think it should not be based on race, but instead on grades and test scores.

If you base affirmative action on race would it make racism worse? Yes, I believe that it would make racism in schools and college campuses a lot worse. For example, say a minority got accepted to a college. Other people might think that it is unfair because you got accepted with help of affirmative action, as for the nonminorities they had to work hard and have high test scores. On college campuses that would be a huge problem because it would create racism between other students.

Having racism on college campuses is not good so this is why all schools should look at grades and test scores instead of race and gender. I think that it is fare for the minority to go to the school he wants, but he has to deserve it and prove t the other schools that he is good enough. For example, say a minority and an average white American were applying to the same school, but the white American had a higher GPA and test score. Who would be accepted to the school? The minority would because he would get help from affirmative action. In this situation I think that the best decision would be to accept the smarter white American compared to the non-educated minatory. All schools and colleges should pick the smarter student and not have affirmative action for the minorities.


Are all minorities poor and disadvantaged? No, not all minorities are poor and disadvantaged. So does affirmative action still help them when they apply to different schools or colleges? Yes. For example, say an average white American and a non-poor nor disadvantaged minority apply to the same college and they have the same test scores. The college would pick the minority because he would still have help with affirmative action because he is a different race. Another example is say a white American is poor and disadvantaged. Would the American receive affirmative action? The American would not receive affirmative action because he not considered as a different race.

I disagree with affirmative action; I think it should not be based on race, but instead on grades and test scores. When schools and colleges apply affirmative action it is unfair for the other Americans. This is because all minorities receive extra points for there test scores and GPA when they apply and some Americans are smarter than the minorities, but they get help by affirmative action. Some of the minorities should not even receive the extra points because they are not poor or disadvantaged. After the minority receives his extra points and goes to the school or college all I think that would create is racism, because the other students would think of him as a non-educated student and he only got in with the help of affirmative action.



Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 9 comments.


on Dec. 18 2013 at 4:59 am
Sadly, it's apparant that you've fallen into the trap that perpetuates a cycle of abirtrary standards that do not determine a person's value or for what you're concerned ability to a college campus. I hope you have this epiphany that life is bigger than three letter acronyms before your children post an article like this and deem themselves inadequate because their SAT was 10 points lower than Harvard's average.

LadyWisdom said...
on Jul. 31 2012 at 1:27 pm
AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LadyWisdom said...
on Jul. 31 2012 at 1:06 pm

Dear fellow writer-

While I found that you made some good points within your essay, I STRONGLY DISAGREE with it. I, myself am a minority and I did find your work very offensive. Calling a minority "un-educated" really hit me in the heart. I live in NYC and a lot of the minorities in MY neighborhood ARE POOR AND DISADVANTAGED, so why shouldn't they get a little help financially when it comes to colleges tuitions?

My older sister is starting her senior year in high school this fall (she is an Honor Student) and our mother only makes an average of about $22,000 per year, definitely not enough to send her, or me, to university. In fact, $22,000 is an entire college tuition in itself. In addition to that, I myself have just recently graduated from middle school as SALUTATORIAN and the valedictorian was a girl of Ecuadorian decent.

In your essay, you repeatedly gave examples in which the Caucasion college applicant had better grades than the minority. This was another insult. Who says that a minority can't have exceptional grades? How do you think my sister and I are Honor Students? Forget those "extra points" you discussed. The way they screwed up those State Tests in NY for 3-8th grade students this year, I'm surprised that anyone passed. They had to regrade all of the exams! For all I know, I probably lost points on that test.


on Feb. 28 2012 at 10:50 am
thelogicoflove SILVER, Camden, South Carolina
7 articles 0 photos 15 comments

I understand the thought behind this piece. When looking up scholarships for college, I find myself amazed at the choices for minorities - all based on their race, not  financial need or academic achievements. Same goes for women, particularly above the age of 25. I believe everyone should be given the same opportunities, and the ones who work the hardest and succeed the most should be rewarded, regardless of their ethnicity, age, or gender. It isn't about ridding minorities of what they deserve or giving white people an added privledge; equality is what is needed.

However, I feel like your article was poorly worded in some spots, like a couple of other members pointed out. Not every white person is American, and not every Hispanic, African-American, Asian, etc, person isn't an American. Some people do find this hard to understand, but the color of your skin doesn't correspond with where you believe your home country is.

For an example, my boyfriend is Hispanic, specifically Cuban. His family immigranted to America from Cuba many years ago, and they still speak Spanish, still cook chiefly Hispanic meals, and are proud of their heritage. However, my boyfriend is also American because he was born in America, is an American citizen, lives in America, works in America, goes to school in America, and loves America. Just because he's a minority doesn't make him unamerican - same goes with everyone else who isn't white.


on Nov. 10 2011 at 2:53 pm
Sunshine15 PLATINUM, Modi&#39in, Other
20 articles 0 photos 18 comments

Favorite Quote:
Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, nothing else ever has. ~Margaret Mead

I think that affirmative action-- preferance-- should be given to all Americans who come from poor areas, who haven't been given the oppurtunity to reach thier full potential, whether or not they are a minority...

Sayaren said...
on Jun. 25 2011 at 7:16 pm
It was a poor choice of words maybe but your reaction to it was uncalled for.

Fluffy2772 said...
on Jun. 9 2011 at 4:48 pm
Fluffy2772, McDonough, Georgia
0 articles 0 photos 41 comments
You know racism still exist in america. Not everyone is making this stuff up. And secondly, if we could identify eachother by our actual ethnicity(American, British, Spanish) there would be no need for this minority programs. But instead, we choose to call eachother things like black and white, which is shallow and shows that people judge by appearance. 

on Oct. 2 2010 at 1:31 pm
JesusIsMyFortress BRONZE, Georgetown, Georgia
3 articles 8 photos 6 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Some women choose to follow men, and some women choose to follow their dreams. If you&#039;re wondering which way to go, remember that your career will never wake up and tell you that it doesn&#039;t love you anymore.&quot; <br /> -Lady Gaga

"...and some Americans are smarter than the minorities..."

 

This is true, but why do you, throughout the article, call all non-minorities Americans? Are you implying that minorities aren't truly Americans because they are not white? FYI, you came from immigrants, just like 95% of the population. So get off your high horse and stop acting like white people are Americans and everyone else isn't. 


diasha said...
on Mar. 26 2010 at 11:24 am
i disagree with this article because life is alot more harder for a minority