AFFIRMATIVE
By Matthew Shaw
pshaw@email.unc.edu
Affirmative action policies have made it
mandatory for businesses and schools to
actively recruit from all areas of society. In addition to recruit
ing, these policies have also required that all qualified appli
cants be given the same courtesies regarding hiring and selec
tion.
At the university level these programs are more necessary
now than they ever have been in the past. It is a growing trend
to think that the Civil Rights Struggle and similar movements
have reached their goals of equal opportunity for all. People do
not realize that the issues of the past remain with us today.
It must be realized that all applicants to this University do
not start off at equal footing. It is affirmative action that
requires the child, regardless of his education background,
which almost always
reflects his ethnic back
ground, to be considered
for admission to the
University. Without such
consideration, it is quite
possible that UNC could
set its admissions policy
to only admit students
who have taken three or more AP classes. In the absence of
affirmative action, those students who do not qualify simply
because they were not given the opportunity to take AP cours
es would not have a chance. The harsh reality is that many of
these students are of color. This is the major reason that the
University supports, and should continue to support programs
such as North Carolina Renaissance and Summer Bridge,
which attempt to close the gap in educational resources poten
tial Carolina students face.
Unequal primary and secondary education is a prime exam
ple used by affirmative action critics to state the ineffectiveness
of these policies. The underlying implication is that affirmative
action is exploited by well-to-do and middle-class Blacks (as
well as other minorities), but not by those who need it. I assert
that this is not true at all. The Head Start program readily
comes to mind as an affirmative action effort. Furthermore
what Affirmative Action has done is to expand and strengthen
the black middle class by allowing many disenfranchised peo
ple to receive higher education.
What happens right now is that Boards of Education across
the nation historically and systematically under-fund schools
with large minority populations. These boards, which are usu
ally made up of Whites who like the theoretical admissions
department, may not intend to bypass Blacks, but by focusing
on those like themselves instead of the common good for
everyone, they deprive minority children of their opportunity
under the law.
By expanding the strength of the black middle class, the
opportunity now presents itself that Boards of Education will
have a black voice that will advocate for the needs of the dis
enfranchised black child. This child may never have to attend
a Summer Bridge program to establish himself on par with the
child who has had AP classes at the school heretofore favored
by the Board.
This is the real
power of affirma
tive action. It is not
a handicap that
people can lean on
to ensure that there
is a place for them,
rather it is an insur
ance policy that
states that all qualified applicants will be considered for admis
sion. The student helped by affirmative action, once admitted,
attends and graduates and is able to return to his community.
He then indirectly benefits the next generation by affording his
children the opportunities he was denied because of his race
and socio-economic standing. He could also directly benefit the
next generation by being a teacher or the Board member that
advocates for the black child. He could even excel beyond our
expectations by becoming the next Nobel Prize winner.
Regardless of his outcome, his success is part of a snowball
that affects his community exponentially. Without affirmative
action, there is no way of knowing that the disenfranchised
child, although qualified and willing, would even be consid
ered for admission. If he is not considered, he cannot be admit
ted.
The ultimate goal of Affirmative Action is to produce a soci
ety that takes merit and capabilities at face value without
underlying biases. The equality of opportunity and fairness are
for some people a reality. It is for those who those qualities are
not a reality that affirmative action exists.
‘ It is not a handicap that people can lean on to
ensure that there is a place for them, rather it is
an insurance policy that states all qualified appli
cants will be considered."
11
Black INK