Race-based quotas don’t promote equality

Race-based quotas don’t promote equality

By Albert Sun

An article written by the African Student Union in support of
affirmative action ("ASU calls for affirmative action support,
rally," March 16) has deeply disturbed me. In my opinion, the ASU’s
motivation is as racist as the "fascist and reactionary power
structure of white supremacy" which they berate. I know racism when
I see it. Admitting students into an institution of higher learning
on the basis of a racial quota of any sort is most definitely
racist. There can be no equality when students continue to enter
universities according to the color of their skin.

The ASU claim that "(GPA and test scores) offer little, if any,
insight into how a student will achieve academically" is a complete
warp of reality. These scores demonstrate whether a student has
developed the English and mathematical skills required to complete
college coursework. If neither standardized tests nor academic
grades can determine the suitability of a college candidate, as
suggested, then wouldn’t a true lottery be more in the spirit of
equality? Better yet, just cut out the middle man and award
diplomas by lottery.

Academic institutions must deal in the only currency they are
qualified to exchange: knowledge and learning. To ask a university
to admit a student primarily because she belongs to an
"underrepresented" group is to disregard the very meaning of higher
learning and to buy an academic degree with political power. Such a
college degree has no academic value. Furthermore, why are certain
minorities decreed "underrepresented" while other minorities are
turned away? In the long run, this admission can only further
deprave the condition of African Americans. African American
students should be given the same right to compete in the higher
educational setting as any other racial group. However, they should
not be given an academic crutch which other races do not equally
enjoy. A solution to the problem must occur earlier in the
educational process.

The ASU acutely observes that "all primary and secondary schools
are not equal." The solution should therefore be corrected at this
level. Funds allocated to affirmative action programs should be
channeled into inner city school systems instead. Any action taken
at the college level is too little, too late. By reforming
dysfunctional school systems, students will be offered an
opportunity to actually learn the necessary skills for college
academics instead of being treated as second class citizens at an
institution for which they are not qualified.

Without adequate rudimentary academic skills, a student cannot
be expected to function competently in college. A college student
already has to worry about a part-time job, adapting to a new
environment and coping with a demanding curriculum. She doesn’t
have time to deal with remedial English or math. Students not
admitted for academic merit tend to collapse under the strain of
attempting more challenging academic work than they can do. These
same students may have succeeded at less demanding colleges for
which they would have been adequately prepared. What affirmative
action does not consider is the question of retention.

Colleges will admit a quota of underrepresented races into the
freshman class so their class profile looks good in a college
catalog. These same colleges, however, usually never reveal their
retention numbers. What percentage of students admitted on other
than academic criteria actually graduate? Affirmative action has
deluded underrepresented students into a false sense of progress.
They are still being oppressed without realizing it. The true
problem is never confronted.

Instead of trying to change the structure of contemporary
society from the top down, the ASU should spent more time dealing
with the origin of their problems. An ASU interpretation of
Assembly Concurrent Resolution 151, which states that all ethnic
groups, socioeconomic levels and both sexes should be
proportionately represented in higher education, is that a portion
of university funding should be used to "promote the awareness of
African history, culture and language (etc.)." However, no general
education requirement currently exists to promote any cultural or
ethnic group on campus, and in my opinion, there should never be
one. Why should any cultural group have more priority than any
other?

Representing all cultural groups equally in the GE requirements
would needlessly lengthen already-extensive college stays without
necessarily representing any single culture in adequate detail.
Externalizing a problem is often the easiest way to mentally
confront it, but the problem will remain unsolved.

Although recruitment of neophytes to African culture may further
understanding between African Americans and people of other races,
the problems unique to the socioeconomic conditions of African
Americans will remain. Time and energy should be spent on improving
the neighborhoods and family units. These internal problems cannot
be attacked with bravado. Redeeming the inner city culture will
take hard work, but easy fixes will not solve the problem.
Affirmative action is an easy fix. It solves nothing, further
oppresses underrepresented people, and institutes the novel
oppression of other minorities.

Sun is a neuroscience/chemistry senior.