On Thursday, June 29th, 2023, The United States Supreme Court committed the most ridiculous act ever in their years of existence, and it all had to do with the future of education of minorities who benefitted from affirmative action, and all they wanted was to obtain a better education and the opportunities afforded them that everyone else receives, but the court ruled that the acceptance of a student’s race instead of their qualifications unconstitutional. Why? because there are some people that feel that affirmative action is a form of “reverse discrimination” and consider it as being not fair. But there are those feel that after years of discriminative practices against minority students, it’s time that they got their fair slice of the academic piece of the pie and make something of themselves because race have always kept them from achieving the ultimate goal: a well-deserved and equal education.
Many people ask themselves and others what the hell was the court thinking and what was going through their minds when they made that decision. It’s quite obvious of course that six of the justices (who were appointed by Republican presidents) ruled in favor of the outlawing of affirmative action while the other 3 (chosen by Demiocratic presidents) said otherwise. Political ideology definetely played a huge role in the decision since the six conservative justices felt that admitting a student based on race instead of qualifications was wrong and out of the question. The dissenting justices did not see it that way since they themselves benefitted from affirmative action, but still ruling it unconstitutional was outright petty and simple-minded.
To me personally, this is nothing more than a bunch of clock-turning back right-wing thinking by a majority who feel that being a minority is a reason to get a free ride through the system because of their race and not their qualifications and to think that we as Americans have to admire and look up to their ideas and the respectability they’re supposed to have to not have their political views and thoughts influence their decision.
Furthermore, the decision that was made was absolutely outlandish and as far as I’m concerned was seen as the business-as-usual political thought-out viewpoint to go back to the days when minorities were not even allowed to attend the institutions of their choice let alone benefit because of their race. Affirmative action to me is STILL needed and is valuable to those who want to attend the best schools and not even think about race in the first place. The system was not created to destroy one’s gaining of education because of his or her race, creed, color or orientation, it was made to give people a fair shot at equal learning and an opportunity to attend the schools where they deem to fit in and live that ‘American Dream” without being seen as reaching for a sympathetic handout just to “cut in front of the line”.
The audacity of the majority of the court to rule that affirmative action wrong is no better than saying that well-kept, wealthy neighborhoods are better than impoverished, unsuccessful ones because they didn’t have the financial backing or the assistance to uplift them out of their dire situations. Equal opportunity goes with equal education and this is an idea that should never be eliminated, especially when trying to make it in a world that’s stacked against a person because otheir race, having to go through 4 to 8 years of academia. What’s affecting the feelings of those who oppose affirmative action is the fact that “reverse discrimination” is being practiced, but they are the ones REALLY getting the benefits because they’re either born into money or have a “hook-up with a wink and a nod” to get into that institution, regardless of economic or personal status.
So yes, I fully support the practice of affirmative action in our halls of education and oppose the Supreme Court’s decision to eliminate the use of race for college admissions because nowadays getting into college, let alone paying for it is an uphill battle for minorities, and add that to the fact that most people don’t have the money to go. Affirmative action is NOT “reverse discrimination”, as some say it is. To me it’s giving those a chance to gain the education so rightfully deserved regardless of race.
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