The Fisher vs. University of Texas case that is making headlines lately has brought the affirmative action issue back into the spotlight. Affirmative action is a strange subject because it seems like people of all races fall on both sides of the debate. There are black people who are for it and black people against it. But there are also white people for and against it. The biggest issue to me is the fact that this is still an issue.
If the Supreme Court rules in favor of Abigail Fisher, the ruling would likely apply nationwide and would make it harder for racial minorities to gain accepted into schools. This seems wrong until you realize the only spots they would be losing are spots that were taken from more qualified students in the first place. People as a whole need to stop feeling entitled to certain things. If minorities are being unfairly denied acceptance into schools then by all means take action.....but not at the expense of a more deserving person.
Growing up in a military town has exposed me to many different cultures. Being multiracial myself one may think that I should have a better perspective than others about experiences with racial inequalities. The problem is that I don't. I don't recall ever being in a class with more than one or two other African American kids, but race has never been a problem in my life. Maybe I just never noticed it, but I think most people I grew up with would agree. I am not ignorant enough to think that the rest of the country is the same as it is here, but I also don't think people in today's America should feel entitled things and still expect to be treated equal.
How can you preach equality by practicing inequality?
Equality in today's society no longer requires special treatment. In today's America where nearly 64% of people are white, and only 12% are black yet we are still able to have an African American president. I am not trying to undermine the efforts of those who fought for equality through the Civil Rights Era. I just feel like the quicker people who lived through that era acknowledge their accomplishments and accept that their efforts have caused race to move towards becoming a non-issue, the better off everyone will be. I don't want to hear what Jesse Jackson thinks about every African American news story; I want to hear what people think about it. I want to watch basketball highlights without hearing about what the Asian American did for the Knicks. I don't care about what race a person is who committed a crime; I just want to know that it happened. I don't want to watch Black Entertainment Television; I just want to watch television. It is one thing to celebrate a person's race, but the unnecessary emphasis on race is what continues to make racism an issue.
I think the younger generations have widely accepted racial equality. I wish I had lived in other areas of the country to gain more perspective on racial issues, but I would hope that people in other places feel the same. Times change those changes require modification of rules and regulations. The application of the phrase "All men are created equal" has changed over the years, but in today's America it is a lie until outdated requirements such as affirmative action change as well.
Affirmative action is not an issue in diverse, liberal communities like Western Washington, much of California and Oregon, military towns, highly traveled areas, etc. But, racism is still very much a reality in enough places in the country (the south, namely) to keep affirmative action in place. Especially in rural America, years go by without any change in people's mindsets or exposure to other ethnicities. It's too bad that things are slow to evolve some places, but I think a trip to Texas, Arkansas, rural Tennessee, Louisiana or Alabama, etc., would change a Washingtonian's perception of how far advanced we - as a country - actually are.
ReplyDeleteWhat makes it hard for me to understand I guess is the that there have been too many things that have changed even in the last 10 years that would seem to change the mindsets of those people....and all of these changes are evident in daily aspects of every American's life whether through tv, movies, music, politics, etc. Some people are stuck with their beliefs regardless of what outside influences suggest. It would be interesting to get the opinions of the younger generations living in rural America and the south to find out what their beliefs are and whether those beliefs are unique to the individuals. It seems like it would be hard to impose beliefs on anyone these days....but now that I think of it my kids do still believe in santa.
ReplyDelete'They' do say that this generation Y is the first to be more influenced by sociological factors outside of the home, rather than inside. It's too bad only 50% of the population is under 30.
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