Affirmative action has been the basis of much debate over the past few years. It finally got to the Supreme Court of the United States in October 2013.
But the regulations known as affirmative action are actually insulting and lead to more discrimination than they ever could possibly hope to stop.
One example is that the National Football League has the “Rooney rule,” named after NFL owner Wayne Rooney.
The rule requires any team attempting to fill a head coaching void to interview at least one black candidate.
At first glance, this rule feels like a good idea. With more African Americans being interviewed, more should get hired.
This is a good line of thinking to use, but did they get those jobs because they were the best candidate or because they were given an advantage?
This is not only a problem in the NFL but all over the country. Our government is saying that people of color could not succeed if not given special privileges.
And if we continue to allow our government to send this message to the people of this nation, then we will never be able to move forward to a place where people of color are truly treated as equals.
Even in a foot race, if you continue to give someone a head start, then the races should be close. But if after much training the person were to get faster and faster, the head start would become a detriment to the public perception.
Many would begin to wonder if they had improved at all because they were still receiving the head start to “even the playing field.”
When we leave these types of things open for interpretation, then people will take from them what they will.
America has a long history of inequality, and the only way we will destroy the perception of inequality is to first destroy all of the caveats that can be used to keep one another separated. If we allow people to use a “but” in connection to someone else’s success, then they will.
In July, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a related lawsuit against the State of California alleging discrimination against high school students in low-income and minority neighborhoods.
The ACLU charged that schools in affluent areas offered far more advanced placement classes than those in low-income areas, disadvantaging many poor and minority students in college admissions. The lawsuit is still pending.
But the ACLU lawsuit shows what the real problem is and why we feel that affirmative action is necessary. The American education system is flawed.
As shown by the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, 2013 SAT scores of college-bound seniors had a direct correlation with family income. The poorer you were, the lower you scored.
Disparities like this show that income is what grants educational opportunities.
And according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s annual report on poverty, income and health insurance, the median income for non-Hispanic White households was $57,009, and it was $33,321 for black households. For Hispanic households, the median income was $39,005.
The educational system in this country has put millions of people on a treadmill running towards success.
Affirmative action hasn’t and won’t work because while it is great to get black and Hispanic students into college, only certain schools in the most affluent neighborhoods are preparing their students for college. And an unprepared student on a college campus is just being robbed.
Affirmative action and legislation like this has its heart in the right place, but the much better way to fix the broken system that we have in America is by giving an even amount of resources to all schools so that every student actually has an equal chance at success.
As long as we allow people to differentiate others based on their race, this country will not move forward.
