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Should affirmative action still exist?
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Affirmative Action Needed No More
My 17 year old son is a Senior in high school and he is in the process of applying for colleges for entrance next fall. Every Application asks him for his Race/Ethnicity.
Should it matter if he is blond, Blue eyed and fair skinned? Apparently it does.
My son is a Brilliant Student with a GPA of 4.6 and is in the International Baccalaureate Programme here in Arizona. He is President of National Honour Society and he has over 500 hours of volunteer service that he has completed the past 3 ½ years. He is well liked and respected and last year while in Russia for a Model United Nations Conference he was one of 20 out of 400 delegates to bring home an Award for Best Delegate.
But with all this going for him, he has been told that since he is a “White Boy” he will have problems getting into the schools of his choice. (University of Michigan, Middlebury, and American University) He is not Hispanic, nor Latino, or Black. He is just a plain white teenager with the dream of getting a degree in Political Science and Foreign Affairs and one day working for the State Department and then becoming an Ambassador to the United States.
He has also been advised by one of his high school counselors that the scholarships are no longer going to the “White Boys” they are now mostly going to the Ethnic Students (which are mostly Hispanic in our area) because “they have had few advantages”.
I am a single mom, making less than $50k a year and since I am not on the free/reduced lunch program then I have to pay for my son to apply to these colleges where the “Ethnic” students get the waivers to even apply for colleges they are not even planning on attending. I don’t like to sound bitter, but really? Since I have a decent job, pay my taxes and try and stay out of debt, I have to pay for the “Ethic” students college applications by paying more for my son? That is enough to make me want to quit my job and just get by. (thankfully I am one that takes pride in raising my son on my salary and not other peoples taxes)
Affirmative Action has run its course. I don’t believe college acceptance or scholarships should be based on the colour of one’s skin. It should be based on who is the best and who writes the best college essays or who has the best GPA. Who has put forth the effort to get good grades in High School and go above and beyond.
I believe that if a person works hard, shows the determination and the will to make school a priority while still young, then the colleges are going to be able to be colour blind when it comes to sending out the acceptance letters to those students they want, because they are stellar students, not because of the colour of the skin.
Should it matter if he is blond, Blue eyed and fair skinned? Apparently it does.
My son is a Brilliant Student with a GPA of 4.6 and is in the International Baccalaureate Programme here in Arizona. He is President of National Honour Society and he has over 500 hours of volunteer service that he has completed the past 3 ½ years. He is well liked and respected and last year while in Russia for a Model United Nations Conference he was one of 20 out of 400 delegates to bring home an Award for Best Delegate.
But with all this going for him, he has been told that since he is a “White Boy” he will have problems getting into the schools of his choice. (University of Michigan, Middlebury, and American University) He is not Hispanic, nor Latino, or Black. He is just a plain white teenager with the dream of getting a degree in Political Science and Foreign Affairs and one day working for the State Department and then becoming an Ambassador to the United States.
He has also been advised by one of his high school counselors that the scholarships are no longer going to the “White Boys” they are now mostly going to the Ethnic Students (which are mostly Hispanic in our area) because “they have had few advantages”.
I am a single mom, making less than $50k a year and since I am not on the free/reduced lunch program then I have to pay for my son to apply to these colleges where the “Ethnic” students get the waivers to even apply for colleges they are not even planning on attending. I don’t like to sound bitter, but really? Since I have a decent job, pay my taxes and try and stay out of debt, I have to pay for the “Ethic” students college applications by paying more for my son? That is enough to make me want to quit my job and just get by. (thankfully I am one that takes pride in raising my son on my salary and not other peoples taxes)
Affirmative Action has run its course. I don’t believe college acceptance or scholarships should be based on the colour of one’s skin. It should be based on who is the best and who writes the best college essays or who has the best GPA. Who has put forth the effort to get good grades in High School and go above and beyond.
I believe that if a person works hard, shows the determination and the will to make school a priority while still young, then the colleges are going to be able to be colour blind when it comes to sending out the acceptance letters to those students they want, because they are stellar students, not because of the colour of the skin.
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