/Portals/2/logos/__TFMF_qlggxk55w12mnp55tm5pvwbz_70181f9c-ff60-40db-a5d8-a3e463f7a4b4_0___Selected.jpg en-us Copyright 2008 - All Rights Reserved. Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:50:41 GMT 15 By Emily Fishman
“The opinions expressed by the newspaper (or the author of this article) do not reflect those of Port Angeles High School or Port Angeles School District.” Since 1961, Affirmative Action has been implemented in America to prevent discrimi­nation on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, and to pay reparations for previous discrimination of minorities. In the beginning Affirma­tive Action served to ensure that institutions such as schools and businesses gave all citizens equal rights and opportunities both in acceptance (such as ad­mittance to a university) and in compensation (the same sal­ary as others in their field). At the time of its incep­tion Affirmative Action was a necessary measure to pro­tect minority rights. Rac­ism, prejudice and big­otry abounded in America among people from almost all sectors of society; there­fore, the United States govern­ment's forward thinking and action was significant in sig­naling to the country that all people should have and would be guaranteed equality. These days however the United States is a drastically different place in terms of social and cultural accep­tance and blindness to differ­ences in race. Affirmative Ac­tion is an outdated program that continues to pander to and give minorities wildly exorbitant benefits regardless of merit and is blind to the changed at­titudes of United States citizens. People constantly hear that for race to cease to be an issue, it must be completely ignored, yet we in America still fund and support a policy that under­scores the differences among people. African Americans and Native Americans appear to have total equality under the law in America — what Affir­mative Action does is instill the idea that minorities are not actu­ally just normal people, they are somehow inferior and thus need extra help to succeed and be on the same level as everyone else. One of the most exasper­ating aspects of Affirmative Action is that it not only gives preferential treatment to minori­ties, but also gives the impres­sion that it hinders the ability of those not affiliated with an Affirmative Action endorsed minority to achieve success. If someone is part of a Native American tribe, his chances of acceptance into an Ivy League institution are markedly higher than the white student in his class in terms of GPA and aca­demic record; but because the Native American's ancestors were discriminated against sev­eral decades ago, the eighteen year old white student must pay. Reverse discrimination came to the Supreme Court in the 1970s, when a student with first-rate grades, Allan Bakke, chal­lenged a University of Califor­nia medical school for two times refusing him admission because he was white. The Court ruled that strict racial quotas were unconstitutional; affirmative ac­tion was not. However, this rul­ing did not decide what most regarded as the central issue: Does protecting minori­ties discriminate against the majority? The Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 that universities could take race and ethnicity into account when determin­ing student admissions, yet using inflexible racial quo­tas to increase minorities on campus was unconstitutional. An antiquated policy that gives less de­serving students benefits (admittance to coveted schools) and less qualified adults jobs over other appli­cants, simply to fulfill schools’ and businesses’ minority quota, Affirmative Action needs to be drastically amended to fit mod­ern times, values, and mindsets. ]]> Mon, 27 Feb 2012 20:32:28 GMT