Colorblind. The idea represents the views of the ideal American society. As kids of the ‘90s, it’s been hammered into our heads time and time again that we’re supposed to see past each other’s skin colors and racial identities; we’re all the same underneath, and we should be treated as such. But we can’t be a colorblind society if every time we take a step towards equality, we end up taking two steps back.
A few weeks ago, the Supreme Court decided to uphold Michigan’s ban on affirmative action in higher education. Affirmative action was introduced in the 1960s in the U.S. as a way to combat racial discrimination during hiring and college application processes, eventually expanding to include gender discrimination. This means that an applicant’s race could be a deciding factor in getting accepted into certain colleges or hired for certain jobs. The recent Michigan ban is not the first time the policy has been debarred; affirmative action has been taken out of the college application process in five states, and only a handful of universities. But for the most part, it is still in place. It’s widely-known that affirmative action could potentially affect the chances of many qualified students getting into colleges, even though it also gives disadvantaged minorities more opportunities in life. Even so, the Harbinger believes that the Supreme Court’s ruling is a step back, and that affirmative action should remain in place.
Affirmative action is an extremely relevant issue for high schoolers. As we are applying to colleges across the United States, we’re competing against other high schoolers from many different backgrounds. And as we are considered by countless admissions counselors, many of our attributes are under scrutiny — including race. Whatever box we check on our applications, whether it’s “Caucasian,” “American Indian” or “Pacific Islander,” our checkmarks have enough bearing to possibly influence our chance of admission. In the words of anti-racism advocate Tim Wise, “[Affirmative action] merely presumes that whites have been afforded more-than-equal,extra opportunity relative to people of color, and that this arrangement has skewed the opportunity structure for jobs, college slots and contracts.” Because of this extra opportunity, race should be a determining factor in college admissions.
The United States has a long history of mistreating minorities. This tradition has continued through more than four centuries, from slavery and the oppression of Native Americans, all the way to the current lack of economic equality and overt racism that blacks, Hispanics and other minorities face (an example of which would be racial profiling). Because of this awful legacy, many non-white children and teenagers growing up in America today lack the opportunities of their white counterparts. Although our attitudes towards race have changed, the consequences of our past attitudes have remained. Many non-white kids have to work through school, or are the first of their families to even apply to college. Many lack the background knowledge and resources that a good number of white kids have to succeed.
Being colorblind is the American ideal, but how can we see past skin color when minorities are still at such a disadvantage? According to the Pew Research Forum, the median wealth of white households is still 20 times that of black households. Nationally, according to the Chicago Defender and thinkprogress.org, school districts spend exponentially more on predominantly white schools than black schools and black men working the same jobs as white men earn 35 percent less per year.
Affirmative action has helped numerous minorities to get accepted into college, and eventually to achieve in their careers (including Barack Obama and Sonia Sotomayor, who have credited affirmative action with helping them get accepted into prestigious universities). Even though our society is far from becoming colorblind, it is undeniable that affirmative action has helped push us in the right direction by giving minorities more opportunities. But as more and more states and universities are turning against affirmative action, we end up denying capable students the chance to go to college, and the chance to have a better life.
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