Jason Chiu, Period 7, 10/3/2023

Jason Chiu, Period 7, 10/3/2023

Socio-Political Consciousness

As I start going through the college application process I think about the new changes made to affirmative action. I start to imagine a world where there is no affirmative action. Those who are marginalized in society would not have the same opportunities as privileged members of society. Speaking as someone who is mixed race (Asian/White), this change does not personally affect me. However, there are many friends I have made through similar programs here at tech. Had a program like this not existed, I never would have met them and (possibly more important), they would not have been given the opportunity to succeed in an environment like this.

It is important to note that discrimination still exists in our society. There are still people that are disadvantaged due to historic or system inequalities out of their control. Removing affirmative action would only serve to prolong this bias that exists in the college application process. This would also make colleges and universities more homogenous, lowering their overall diversity. Increased diversity in higher education is important as it allows for more diverse perspectives in each field of study. Everyone at the college or university, including staff members and professors, would benefit from meeting new people from different cultural and racial backgrounds. As well as people from places where many people don’t pursue higher education. There may be someone from one of these communities that is more talented in their desired field of study than many of the other applicants trying to go the same school but, because of where they are from, they weren’t able to take 4 AP classes a year and they get overlooked on their application. It goes even further than just college. These people could’ve been able to get jobs in their field. Perhaps they would’ve made inventions or innovations that were previously unheard of. They would’ve made the world a better place and did their best to positively contribute to it. But they weren’t able to get the job they wanted because they got rejected from a well acclaimed college. And they can still get a degree at a different university but it just doesn’t hold the same weight. They did their best in high school. Took the hardest classes that their school offered. But some kid from a better funded high school was able to take more rigorous courses then they ever could. 

The decision to reject affirmative action U.S. colleges and universities will go down in infamy as one of the worst rulings made by the Supreme Court of the United States.