Affirmative Action and Pluralsim

[Matthew]

Ok, so the Supreme Court has given a somewhat eginmatic answer to the Affirmative Action debate by ruling the method in practice unconstitutional, but dubbing the idea itself to be acceptable. In honor fo this historic but truly uneventful decision,I will offer my views on the Affirmative Action debate.
First of all, the idea of using affirmative action as compensation for past injustices against minorities is rediculous. Yes, descrimination is alive today, and, yes, it had a hand in lowering the socio-economci status of many of our minorities, it is no reason to make a decision that will impact an educational environment. They can award need-ased schoalrships, thats ok, but not based on color. I know some very priveleged blacks and hispanics, as well as underprivveleged whites.
That being said, I do think affirmative action has a place in creating a better educational environment. We go to college to learn, to be educated, and to be prpeared for the rest of our lives. How can you be prepared for the real world if yous tudy in a room only poulated by middle-to-upper-class white people? You need to interact with people from varying cultures and backgrounds in order to really grasp what the world is like.
The driving idea behind pluralism (as presented by John Stuart Mill) is that all ideas shoudl be presented in open forum, and the best ones will rise to the top. The same should be true in an educational environment, so to maximzie the education as many ideas as possible should be presented. Not just in class but in the dorms, and throughout the campus. Many people wont understand their faith until they have to defend it. Some people cant come to rationalzie an idea until they have to argue for or against it. Having diversity in campus is good for taht reason.
Also, someone from a different background can offer a new perspective. If I go to class with all whites, how can i really come to understand culture or society? If i attend a class of all christians, what can i learn about religion? All the textbooks in the world cant accomplsih what experience can. So experiencing new ideas, new cultures, and new backgrounds is something that an educational environment should have in interest in providing.

[BrandNewDream]

Originally posted by Matthew
Ok, so the Supreme Court has given a somewhat eginmatic answer to the Affirmative Action debate by ruling the method in practice unconstitutional, but dubbing the idea itself to be acceptable. In honor fo this historic but truly uneventful decision,I will offer my views on the Affirmative Action debate.
First of all, the idea of using affirmative action as compensation for past injustices against minorities is rediculous. Yes, descrimination is alive today, and, yes, it had a hand in lowering the socio-economci status of many of our minorities, it is no reason to make a decision that will impact an educational environment. They can award need-ased schoalrships, thats ok, but not based on color. I know some very priveleged blacks and hispanics, as well as underprivveleged whites.
That being said, I do think affirmative action has a place in creating a better educational environment. We go to college to learn, to be educated, and to be prpeared for the rest of our lives. How can you be prepared for the real world if yous tudy in a room only poulated by middle-to-upper-class white people? You need to interact with people from varying cultures and backgrounds in order to really grasp what the world is like.
The driving idea behind pluralism (as presented by John Stuart Mill) is that all ideas shoudl be presented in open forum, and the best ones will rise to the top. The same should be true in an educational environment, so to maximzie the education as many ideas as possible should be presented. Not just in class but in the dorms, and throughout the campus. Many people wont understand their faith until they have to defend it. Some people cant come to rationalzie an idea until they have to argue for or against it. Having diversity in campus is good for taht reason.
Also, someone from a different background can offer a new perspective. If I go to class with all whites, how can i really come to understand culture or society? If i attend a class of all christians, what can i learn about religion? All the textbooks in the world cant accomplsih what experience can. So experiencing new ideas, new cultures, and new backgrounds is something that an educational environment should have in interest in providing.

While I agree with what you said, I do not believe that minorities should gain an advantage simply because of race or nationality, as done in U of Michigan's "points" system. People may read that sentance and see me as a racist, however my view on this is double sided. Yes, it is true that I do not believe that minorities should recieve special considerations. I believe that a university should have its admission requirements, and that's that. My view, however, considers the minorities in question. If I were a black man working at a prestigious company, such as Merrill Lynch or Solomon Smith Barney, for example, I would bet that a lot of my co-workers would think that I'm there because of affirmative action. What people like Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton don't sometimes realize is that they're demeaning their people by doing some of the things they do. Sure, it affords blacks more opportunity within the world, but it sacrifices one of the most important values a man can have: pride. Yes, I agree that experience is necessary for learning about other cultures. But I think that the methods we use to achieve this diversity should be re-visited.