Is There an Appropriate Affirmative Action Policy?
As the fractious Supreme Court decisions illustrate, affirmative action in college admissions is still a highly sensitive issue. Proponents claim the policies are needed in order to right past wrongs, to achieve diversity in education, and to solve the ongoing salary discrepancies between whites and minorities. Opponents, on the other hand, contend that two wrongs dont make a right; that discrimination against whites today cannot repair the damages caused by slavery and discrimination against minorities. Perhaps the biggest problem with racial preference programs is that they assume and perpetuate racial stereotypes. In order to assume that admitting an underrepresented minority will automatically bring in a different world-view or culture, one must first assume some generalities about people of that particular race. Additionally, while racial preferences exist, they will continue to foster ill will between races. As these cases show, the petitioners believed that less-deserving minori
