The hashtag #StayMadAbby has gotten a great deal of fire in the last few days. Abigail Fisher is white female that was neglected admission into the University of Texas in the summer of 2008. Fisher then sued the school under the argument that the 14th amendment was being abused and not respected. This case has gotten attention nationwide, and it has deliberately questioned the concept of affirmative action in the United States.
Affirmative action was first established on March 6, 1961, when John F. Kennedy signed the Executive Order No. 10925. This order ensured that individuals who have been severely disadvantaged due to past history are rectified through programs that promote students of color being admitted, sometimes in different institutions. This action also assured that individuals are employed and treated well during employment process regarding race, color or national origin. In the year 1967, gender discrimination was added into the order of affirmative action.
How affirmative action is sometimes seen
There has been a lot of condemnation of this concept of Affirmative Action, yet many things are being left in the shadows. School education in the United States offers advantages and disadvantages to students according to the geographical areas students live. Most neighborhoods or areas were there is a high number of minority and color students have very few resources for education. This is one of the disadvantages that is rarely talked about. A student who has more resources will always look better in a transcript as they apply for college. The claim that is made regarding affirmative action is absurd because affirmative action is a reality that this country lives in. A difference will be reflected in the life of a child who’s family makes an average of 125,000 a year and a child’s family who makes an average of 27,000 a year. Today there are families who are able to spend small fortunes on the education of their children, while other children have to settle for the most basic education and resources that are at their disposal. My claim is not to say that white students all have a family that earns the 125,000 or more a year. My claim is the affirmative action cannot be negated in the way it has been referred to and treated these past few days.
The difference in the money that goes into schools and how it is a disadvantage and an advantage to students
The Misconception of affirmative action
There is a thing called tracking in the school systems, which assures what students are on the path to success and what students will only receive a high school diploma. Tracking in school systems is the act of placing students in groups due to academic ability. This often leads to students being put into courses, which all reflect into high school and determine the likelihood of their further education after achieving a diploma. Students who are placed in higher tracks are usually in classes which include honor and AP courses, while students in lower tracks are never pushed or encouraged to try these “higher track” courses.
There is a mechanism to almost every function in this universe and the education system operates in the same. This mechanism allows the education system to become a social justice issue. Education is a luxury; in the United States we all have the opportunity of an education, but some individuals will always have more resources and a better quality of it. That is why Fisher deliberately stating that she finds that affirmative action is taking away the opportunity of other students — primarily white students — is illogical to me. These students who she claims have taken her spot have used the very few resources and the act of affirmative action to try to get somewhere, even when components, which were out of their control, were against them. I will not tweet #StayMadAbby but I do want to expand on the conversation of affirmative action, why it is needed, and the social justice structure of the education system in the United States.
Sources:
http://k6educators.about.com/od/educationglossary/g/Tracking.htm
Photos:
http://learni.st/users/431026/boards/71168-pansexual-peace-party
http://changefromwithin.org/2012/06/06/are-white-students-being-disadvantaged-by-affirmative-action/ (Also a good blog to read on the issue of Affirmative action)