Affirmative Action

Affirmative action is so controversial because many individuals feel affirmative action is discrimination in reverse, affording employment, sports, and education to less qualified candidates merely because of race or gender.

“Affirmative action” means positive steps taken to increase the representation of women and minorities in areas of employment, education, and business from which they have been historically excluded. When those steps involve preferential selection—selection on the basis of race, gender, or ethnicity—affirmative action generates intense controversy.

While it sounds good in theory, the idea of what helping the undeserved and underrepresented, it is not fixing the problem. The damage has been done, and more is needed then preferential treatment. Real justice will be served when the underprivileged and undeserved are helped from the very beginning.  

Many in this country don't succeed not because they don't want to; more so, they don't succeed because they aren't prepared intellectually and lack the resources, synonymous with "making it," with living the American dream. At one point blacks were not allowed to read or write. So when knowing they didn’t have a chance to be educated is truly unfair. Without access to be educated the journey to success is nothing more than a ‘hoop dream.’ Hoop dreams apply to all kids whose main person is following a dream to be a professional athlete. More parents are supporting that dream, especially if they weren’t educated in the first place.

In conclusion, I think it’s important for minorities to know about these things because as a minority myself I don’t want to be held back from my dream because of my race. All in all, I think anyone with a dream should go after it and it shouldn’t matter the race. Everyone deserves an education and fair chance at whatever they are trying to pursue for a better future.