Originally posted by Raptor
Well I say since we don't have the power to change the system, lets just play by the rules, like every game, there are those who have special preferences. Stop complaining and do something about it.
A couple of comments to that. We *do* have the power to change. It's by discussing the problem (as we are now....it's not complaining if you're analyzing what's wrong with the system and suggesting that it be changed to be more fair). And another way to change the system is to urge voters to write Congress. Also, it looks like a lot of the posters who speak out against special treatment biases are *already in*. So, it's not "sour grapes". We got in despite of the special treatment to others. But it's good to let others be aware of how they can change the system.
WRITE YOUR CONGRESS!
I think there are a lot of problems with the current form of AA, but I also see the other side and agree that
some form of AA is good.
I wrote this elsewhere about doing an e-mail campaign to write Congress to
modify the current AA system:
__________________________________
As someone else said, there's no use whining about what you perceive as an unfair system, because it's unlikely to change... unless you start an e-mail campaign (to your friends/families/co-workers) & to talk-show hosts & newspeople (
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected], etc...) to get U.S. citizens to write their Congressman or Congresswoman.
Make sure to include in your e-mail something like the following:
"Please forward this e-mail to everyone you know and also write your Congressperson about changing Affirmative Action. It takes 2 seconds to write your Representative because all you have to do is copy and paste the speech below and then go to the website":
http://www.house.gov/WriteRep/
Obviously the current system of "Affirmative Action" or "Reverse Discrimination" (depending on your point of view) isn't working:
A) Under-Represented-Minorities (URM's) think that they need Affirmative Action (AA) to succeed, but resent being given a stigma and thought of as "being let into college with lower standards" if they get into a university such as Harvard (or any college for that matter) because it could never be proven otherwise.
B) The majority of Americans are against it because Caucasians and Asians think lower standards should not apply to someone just because of their race.
There seem to be two major problems that resulted in having to have AA in the 1st place:
1) In this country, African-Americans and other minorities have a higher percentage of poor people and as a result, end up in school systems with lesser facilities.
2) African-Americans and other minorities think that "whites" in the system are prejudiced towards them.
Concerning issue #1, this is an economic problem and could be dealt with by changing Affirmative Action to take
income into consideration (
for all races), like many other low-income programs do, such as "HEAD START" which start helping students before they're even in kindergarten.
In addition, if a "
disadvantage" status could be proven (the same as a low-income status has to be proven), then it should also be taken into consideration. For example, you could prove that (a child has hopped from 1 foster home to the next, or has been abused, or has physical malformations) through court/legal documents, police, & doctor reports...
Concerning issue #2, there are steps of anonymous test-taking methods or other methods that could be implemented to prevent any racist teachers ("white" or "black") from raising or lowering test scores of students based on their race.
In addition, it should be illegal for schools to ask
"legacy" questions or for med schools to ask "is your relative a physician?" question.
The reason why I think this solution is a fair compromise is that it
will still affect African-Americans and other minorities to a greater extent since their experience of prejudice and their percentage of poor are greater than non-minorities', and their "legacy" situations are less. Therefore, it will not neglect the fact that URM physicians are necessary for serving the URM community, and it will significantly
reduce the "stigma" associated with African-Americans getting into universities.
And such a solution will also take into account poor non-minority children and disadvantaged children of all races.
Start your e-mail campaigns today.
Good luck with your apps!! 
