I really enjoyed writing my reflection paper on Affirmative Action. However, I have more to say after listening and observing other people's conversations while in class.
First, I would like to start with a story. It was when I was in high school. One of my close friends is bi-racial, half white and half black. Her sister, also bi-racial, was a senior in high school and applying to colleges. She got accepted into Yale. People started spreading rumors that she only got in because she was half-black. However, on her application, she did not put black as her ethnicity because, according to her, she did not want to get into Yale solely on the basis of her race. I was reminded of this story while reading Steele's article, who says in her introduction that "their society now tells them that if they will only designate themselves as black on their college applications, they will likely do better in the college lottery"
For this reason, I think that the reality of Affirmative Action should be more widely educated to high school students. It is causing reverse effects for some students.
I still stand on my position that action needs to be taken earlier. They need to develop a mentality that they can do it while growing up, not have it be thrown at them. People need to develop the skills necessary, such as writing and reading strategies, to be successful in college. I know that if I was a poor reader and writer and then was fortunate enough to be able to enroll in a better school system that I grew up with, it would be a huge shock almost and take a strong mentality to push through it.
Something relative happened to me in the workforce. I was thrown into a stage manager position. I had no previous experience and I am just starting out in the event industry. I was given a 3 sentence verbal instruction and had to ensure the concert was successful. It was very stressful but had I not had a strong mentality and goals and a passion for the event industry, I knew I would not have been able to be successful. I think it relates to the college experience. It is completely different from highschool and overwhelming for students who were even privileged before going into college.
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In one of our readings thre was a quote from president Johnson in the 1960's. A lot of your blog post mirrors his thoughts on affirmative action:
ReplyDelete“You do not take a man that, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him to the starting line of a race and then say, you are now free to compete with all the others, and still justly believe that you have been completely fair”
The necessary skills that you talk about are VERY important and I really agree with your point of view. I have become much more aware of the disadvantageous position members of minority groups have been placed into from the moment they are born. The disparity in the socioeconomic status of whites versus members of minority groups in America is Huge. The foundation of economic stability that whites have created while being the dominant race in America gives them a very distinct advantage over others who never had the chance to create that sort of stable underpinning and is laid out/explained in many of my previous blog posts. I support the way that affirmative action works to its purpose is to counterbalance disadvantages faced by those non dominant groups.