Affirmative action is supposed to help minorities have a better chance to get into college or get a job, but is it fair?
I don't believe it is fair, because it takes away opportunities from people who may deserve them more. I mean, where's the fairness in giving a wonderful opportunity to someone of a minority simply because of that fact?
Now, if you're for affirmative action or you are a minority, you may be thinking, "Oh, great, another white kid from a small town thinks she knows what it's like to be a minority."
I'm not saying that being African-American, Chinese-American or Mexican-American is a walk in the park, but other people have the same needs.
What started out as a way of helping some people turned into a way of hurting others.
How would you feel if you had every requirement for, say, a scholarship or even acceptance to a college and you got passed by because you were white and they were looking for a way to diversify? If it were me, I would be very upset and discouraged; I wouldn't want to apply anywhere else for fear of yet again getting rejected because of affirmative action.
Some people believe that affirmative action was supposed to help stop racism when it came to things like getting jobs, accepted to college and/or scholarships, but it really just created a new form of racism.
They have special scholarships for people of different races or nationalities and only people of that race or nationality can apply for them. That's not called racism, but if there was a scholarship for "white" people only, that would be called racist.
Now, I'm most definitely not racist but I think that everyone should have an equal opportunity for everything. No one should be excluded from any scholarship simply because of their race or nationality.
The solution on affirmative action is plain and simple. You should not have to put your race on your college application, a job application or scholarship application.
If they don't know what race or nationality you are, then they can more easily choose the better candidate, not based on what would make their school or workplace more diverse, but the person who would most benefit from an opportunity or is better qualified.
I realize that my proposal to make things equal for everyone may have a few holes in it, but every good plan started out with a few holes, and with input from other people, those holes can be patched up.
I guess this essay is more about equal opportunity for everyone, and not really affirmative action itself. I just have to say, why can't people be like dogs: not able to see color, and not care about a person's size?
Courtnei Moyses is a senior at McBain High School.
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