Why did affirmative action start and what happens if it goes too far

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy issued an executive order that called on government contractors to “take affirmative action” to ensure that applicants and employees would be treated “regardless of their race, creed, color, or national origin.”

Says Natasha Wariko, author of Is Affirmative Action Fair? The myth of equal college admissions.” “Meanwhile, selective colleges also wanted to increase representation, especially of African Americans, since there were so few African Americans at these elite colleges. And so, they had their own kind of program to bring in more African American students… And then the consideration of race in the admissions process grew as well.”

Today, affirmative action refers to policies designed to increase the representation of minorities and women in employment and higher education. The purpose of affirmative action in higher education is twofold, says Kathryn Meyer, a fellow at the Brookings Institution.

“The first is to increase the diversity of the student body, the rationale being that exposure to diverse viewpoints and diverse perspectives will enrich the experience for all students,” says Meyer.

The second goal is more countervailing, to reach students who may not have equal opportunities for a high-quality secondary education or high-quality advice on how to navigate the college admissions process.

“Part of the affirmative action is to identify students who would have achieved success if they had been placed in a zip code, for example, had higher quality teachers, higher quality counsellors, higher quality academic experiences, and being accepted into the institution they believe they will thrive when they have access.” to those resources,” Meyer says.

Sixty years later, affirmative action remains controversial in the United States and has faced previous court challenges. Currently, the US Supreme Court is hearing two cases arguing that affirmative action discriminates against Asian American students. As a result, judges can ban an admissions policy that uses race as a factor.

“It really violates all of our ideals,” said Mike Gonzalez, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation who supports ending affirmative action. “We are a multiracial country where it is very important that the government, or even the private sector, does not use race to pick and choose who gets up and who doesn’t. And being in school is one of the most important rungs on the ladder of success.”

Nine states – California, Washington, Florida, Michigan, Nebraska, Arizona, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Idaho – have banned affirmative action based on race. Some colleges in those states are now using other criteria — such as accepting students into the top 10% of their high school’s graduating class — in an effort to ensure diversity.

“In places where they banned affirmative action…we saw a decrease in racial representation for high school students, when the school stopped affirmative action,” says Meyer.

A 2013 study found that after affirmative action was banned in some states, there was a 23% decrease in the likelihood of students of color being accepted to public colleges in those states.

“We should never accept injustice. We should never accept persistent inequalities. We should constantly try to remedy them. So, it’s not good,” Gonzalez says. “We must be motivated, as a society, to see what we can do to improve America and make sure that everyone has a chance to succeed.”

There’s no way to select the best students, says Wariko, who is also a professor of sociology at Tufts University in Massachusetts, because not everyone agrees on what qualities and qualifications a “best” student should have.

“We should get away from this idea of ​​what is fair and what is not and think more about what is our purpose here as a university?” Says. “Do we want to have a system of higher education accessible to people regardless of their class background or ethnic background?… Are we trying to create diverse leadership for tomorrow? These are the things that I think colleges should think about a lot more. What is our mission, and how We choose students to best advance this mission?”

Gonzalez says there are certain qualities that do not include race or ethnicity that colleges should look for in a student.

“Activities, what you contribute to charity, how well a person is run, how much leadership you show. All of these things have to do with meritocracy and good citizenship. None of these things have to do with the immutable characteristic of what your race or class is,” says Gonzalez. “Race, class or national background is an appalling way of making any choice by government or by the private sector. It should be so obvious to everyone that I don’t even understand why I have to explain it.”

Wariko worries about the potential long-term effects of the Supreme Court overturning confessions based on race.

“I don’t want to be dramatic, but I think it undermines our democracy,” says Wariko. “[Americans] They are so invested in this idea of ​​education as a path to social mobility, success, and a good life. But if we have some kind of elite education system in which students are selected so that they don’t resemble a cross-section of 18-year-olds in the United States, that’s problematic.”

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the future of admissions based on race by June.