Page 12
August 30, 2017
New Prices
Effective
April 1, 2017
O PINION
Martin
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Worst Time to Roll Back Affirmative Action
Enrollment
rates still not
equitable
J essiCah P ierre
There’s a saying:
“When you’re ac-
customed to privi-
lege, equality feels
like oppression.” I
thought of that when I heard about
the Trump administration’s recent
moves against affirmative action.
According to The New York
Times, the Department of Justice,
led by Attorney General Jeff Ses-
sions, is looking for lawyers to
work on “investigations and possi-
ble litigation related to intentional
race-based discrimination in col-
lege and university admissions.”
Well, that’s the point of affir-
mative action, right?
When President John F. Ken-
nedy signed an executive order
on affirmative action in 1961, the
intent was to counteract discrim-
ination that minorities faced in
the job hiring process. Since then,
by
many colleges and universities
have instituted similar standards
to make sure women and students
of color are given a fair shot at re-
ceiving a higher education.
But the way Trump sees
it, it’s white students who are
discriminated against.
There have already been a
number of cases where white
students have challenged
universities that implement
affirmative action. But in 2016,
the Supreme Court decided in
Fisher v. University of Texas that
affirmative action is in fact con-
stitutional and doesn’t hurt white
students.
End of discussion, right?
Wrong.
After the 2016 presidential elec-
tions, a new poll was released by
HuffPost/YouGov showing that
more than half the nation thought
that blacks and Muslims faced a lot
of discrimination. Yet the same re-
port revealed that most Trump sup-
porters believed white people were
the real victims of racial bias.
Now, Trump’s Justice Depart-
ment is trying to rally that base
by arguing that affirmative action
hurts white students.
This argument assumes that
students of color no longer face
discriminatory barriers. But if you
read the news, it’s obvious that
this isn’t true. The horrifying white
nationalist rally and domestic ter-
rorist attack in Charlottesville, Vir-
ginia is more than enough to prove
that minorities are still a target.
But beyond that, African Ameri-
cans still face economic strains due
to racial bias. A 2011 study, for ex-
ample, found that the median white
household wealth remains about
16 times greater than average black
wealth.
Receiving a college degree is of-
ten touted as a pathway to econom-
ic security. But last year, a study
by the National Center for Educa-
tional Statistics showed that racial
divides remain. While college en-
rollment is increasing across the
board, it found that enrollment
rates for college-aged white stu-
dents (42 percent) remain higher
than for both black and Hispanic
students (34 percent.)
White students also graduate
college at higher rates than black
and Hispanic students, according
to a recent report from the National
Student Clearinghouse Research
Center.
While affirmative action has
helped lower some barriers created
by racial bias, black and Hispanic
students still lag behind their white
peers in enrollment. Overall, can
anyone really say the practice is
keeping whites down?
Racism permeates every aspect
of our economy and society —
whether it’s police brutality, the
criminal justice system, housing
discrimination, the racial wealth
divide, or college admissions.
Stripping away affirmative ac-
tion, one of the only race-based
practices meant to counteract
these issues, would send a direct
message to racist whites that the
administration has their back —
at the expense of the livelihood
America continues to take from
people of color.
Jessicah Pierre is the Inequality
Media Specialist at the Institute for
Policy Studies. Distributed by Oth-
erWords.org