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May 12, 2004 It is expected that, because I am a Democrat, I must support Affirmative Action and, indeed, the full equal-opportunity policies of the government. In a sense, I do support equal opportunity in education, business, and other sectors of the economy. However, being a conservative Democrat, my compassion for the process stops at equal opportunity. I am of the firm belief that, in matter like education, indeed especially in education, one should succeed or fail based wholly on their own personal merits. The government, state and otherwise, is sworn to be a fair and honest broker in the matters of the nation. While we know this is impossible because of political bias on the right and left, Affirmative Action is indeed the most flagrant misuse of authority. Make no mistake – if Affirmative Action is handled correctly, I can definitely see the benefit in the system. After all, everyone deserves a chance to make good in their lives, to go to college, to achieve that elusive American Dream. It is when they rely solely on the good graces of the government that it becomes worrying. The United States, whether the right wing seeks to accept it or not, has a social safety net to protect our worst off citizens. Welfare, minimum wage, child labor laws, all of them are developed with the intent to make sure the poor, the disabled, and the elderly do not die when their usefulness to the nation is completed. Social Darwinism is not acceptable anymore. However, I stray from my point: those who abuse the system make it infinitely worse for the rest of us, as they give not only the left wing, but indeed the safety net of a caring democracy a bad name. You should no more be able to get into college easier because you are of minority standing than you should be able to get better pay because you are male or a safer job because you are white. Favoritism in any sense goes against the basic principles of a fair deal for all. The safety net was designed to give a fair deal to those who did not naturally get it. It was not designed to boost those who once had poor standing to the point where they are above those who were not at one time disadvantaged. The quota system is violently dangerous in the sense that it greatly diminishes the value of the educational system as a whole. Saying that willing, able, qualified applicants must be turned away in order to meet a set amount of minorities that must be accepted is absolutely disgusting. If one person works hard through high school, as I have done, and applies to a good college only to be weeded out because the quota of white Indiana students is full, or because they required one minority student over one white student, what is the purpose of higher education? It becomes a lottery, not based on skill in any way, except the skill of parents to breed. And what of the day when black Americans become the majority? It will happen eventually. What of the day when white Americans require an affirmative action program, when white Americans are disenfranchised? Will the American people be so willing to hand out college diplomas to them? Racism, either by the minority or majority, is foolish, and I do not condone it. I can understand how what I have just said may sound racist, but that is exactly what describes the Affirmative Action program: attempting to undo the scars of racism by imposing a racism on the previous offenders. I did not own slaves. I did not play a part in disenfranchising the black Americans that now feel the need to rally in my city, who shout slurs at me for their economic problems. I understand the problems they, the minority, go through in combating the racism of business in hiring, or colleges in accepting. But I cannot give them a free pass to take for free what others have worked for. There are limits to the acquiescence of decent Americans to those people once disenfranchised and now disadvantaged. College is for those who have worked, trained, and sweat for that top of the mountain. It is for the best of the best to continue in their studies in order to be better parts of the American life. It should be an issue of sense and of duty, not of partisanship and bitter politics. For once, to those on both sides, look past the progression of your party and towards the people you serve. Look at what benefits them and what they need from us. They need motivation to achieve, not a free pass to avoid it. ------------ About the author: Max Burns lives in Indianapolis and interns with the Indiana Democratic Party. He is the webmaster of The Foaming Liberal and author of the fantasy-fiction novel Alcardia. He is currently a junior at Lawrence North High School and is active in political clubs and associations. Email: MBurns_NS@hotmail.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
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