Affirmative Action

Should race be a factor in college admissions?

I believe that it is fair for colleges to consider race during the admissions process, but it cannot be the deciding factor, and it can't be used negatively against an individual who is being considered for admission. The law requires that colleges have a specific reason, or a goal that they are trying to accomplish in order to use race as a way of considering an individual for admission, which was stated in the opinion from The University of California V. Bakke. "We have held that in 'order to justify the use of a suspect classification [i.e. in order to discriminate on the basis of race], a state must show that its purpose... is both constitutionally permissible and substantial, and that its use of the classification is 'necessary... to the accomplishment' of its purpose. (Opinion from University of California V. Bakke). If a school is trying to increase the amount of diversity among its student population then it is permissible for them to take race into consideration during the admissions process. The opinion also says that "countering the effects of societal discrimination; increasing the number of physicians who will practice in communities currently underserved; and obtaining the educational benefits that flow from an ethnically diverse student body" (Opinion from University of California V. Bakke). Race can only positively affect a person’s chances of admissions which are acceptable because no prejudice, or racism is being used during the admissions process. Schools are also not allowed to place quotas on the amount of students that come from a certain ethnic background. These are acceptable reasons for race to be considered during the college admissions process, because race can only affect someone’s chances of admission positively.

Reaction to Terrill Swift

On the 14th our class had a guest speaker names Terill Swift visit us, and he spoke to us about wrongful convictions. Mr. Swift was wrongfully convicted for the rape and murder of a Chicago woman. He spent over 15 years in prison, and he had to spend several more years on parole, and in and out of prison before he was finally exonarated by the state. He was arrested as a 17 year old when police brought him in for questioning. Mr. Swift orignially thought that he was being accused of hiding someone out, which he was not, but thats what the police had told him and his mother. He was then interrogated and verbally and mentally abused by the police. Then the police told him that if he signed a document he would be free to go home. Mr. Swift signed it, but what he had actually signed was a confession to the rape and murder of this woman.Three more teenagers were convicted for the same crime. While he was in prison Mr. Swift worked towards proving his innocence and with the help of NorthWestern University he eventually succeeded.

I was shocked by his story. I couldn't believe that the police would stoop so low, to the point where they would arrest an innocent teenager with no criminal history. I admire how Mr. Swift has made it his goal to educate youth, and the rest of the society about wrongful convictions, instead of being bitter about it, which he has every reason to be, but he wants to make sure that nothing like this happens to someone else. I hope that those police officers who were invoved are punished, and that Mr. Swift recieves some sort of compensation for what he went through, because the actions of those officers was inexcusable. For a time I was considering a career in law enforcement, but I decided to go into another direction. I hope that by educating the youth about wrongful convictions that Mr. Swift can make an impression on the future authorities so they won't do anything like this.

White Like Me: Response to Denial

I would agree that being white in America is a huge privilege, but whites refuse to acknowledge the darkness and injustice in Americas past, and they use stories like George Washington and the Cherry tree to give America a more noble appearance. By refusing to acknowledge the darkness in America's past, whites also deny that they are privileged because of their skin color. “Whites in order to maintain a sense of ourselves as good and decent people, living in a good and decent society, have been compelled to deny, deny, deny when it comes to racism” (64). I agree with Wise. Whites always seem to try to leave the racism in past, and they claim that it doesn’t exist during our time. I always hear other white students in my school use the n-word, of course they don’t mean it in a hurtful way and they try to use it in a way that identifies someone else as a close friend, but they don’t realize the racism and hate that exists within that word. Wise brings up a point saying that Americans refuse to acknowledge the slavery or Indian genocide that happened during the course of American history. White Americans try to glorify the actions of the people who instigated these horrible events “because no fabrication is too extreme in the service of patriotism and national self-love” (68). Wise continues to say “if you bring those kinds of things (slavery and genocide) up, you’ll be accused of hating America” (68). But when topics of racism and genocide are brought up it seems that white Americans ignore the past. “it is only when those who were the targets for slaughter and destruction in that past insist on having their voices heard that suddenly the past becomes conveniently irrelevant” (69). Whites seem to ignore, or deny the fact that they are very privileged, because of their skin color, by trying to manipulate history in order to give America a more noble and righteous appearance. Whites try to hide behind Americas seemingly righteous history, in order to ignore the fact that being white is a privileged and blacks and Indians faced violence and oppression for hundreds of years, and that racism still exists today.

My entire life I have lived in Deerfield, which is a predominately white community, so I haven't run into many situations where I have been able to compare my privileges to those of a black person. But this lack of exposure can be damaging to the youth of Deerfield, and society. Every day I hear other white kids in school use the n-word, which I think is just unacceptable, but I don't think that these other students realize, or perhaps even care about how hurtful the n-word is, and the pain, suffering, and hate that exists at the roots of the n-word. The white kids think its okay to use the n-word because it’s used throughout media. I mostly listen to rap, and nearly every black rapper on my iPod uses the n-word in their music, and I always hear the n-word being used by black comedians or actors in there comedy or television shows. Society has become desensitized to the n-word because we constantly hear it throughout our lives. Without a significant presence of black residents in Deerfield I feel that it is difficult for the white kids to come to the realization that the n-word is a very hateful word to use. "The Deerfield Bubble" has left many of us in a state of ignorant bliss where we rarely see racial dilemmas or confrontations because of the lack of integration in Deerfield.

"If I Were A Poor Black Kid" Article Response

I do not agree with this article. Black students living in an area have limited resources, and they are not the best resources at that. I'm sure many black students are motivated to succeed, but it takes so much more motivation to achieve this. I'm going to compare Deerfield High School, which is one of the top schools in Illinois to an inner city school. A student from Deerfield High School has things much easier than a student from an inner city school. Deerfield is an extremely wealthy community, and its schools, citizens, and libraries have access to state of the art technology (smart boards, laptops, projectors, databases, college career and resource center, science materials, etc.), which makes learning, studying, and succeeding much easier. The teachers are paid extremely well, and the student body and staff is kept safe. Students in Deerfield do not have to work nearly as hard as students in an inner city school, because they have all of this working towards giving them the best possible education. In an inner city school students most likely live in dangerous neighborhoods where the commute to school is dangerous, and even the school isn't always safe. Inner city schools do not have the technology that is readily available at Deerfield, and neither do their libraries or homes. The staff isn't nearly as well paid in an inner city school, as the staff at Deerfield.

Gene Marks said that if he was a poor black student he would go to the library and study every day, he would constantly study and work his hardest to get out of that situation, but I don't think he realizes the severity of that situation. I don't know what growing up in the city is truly like, but I have an idea, and Marks made it seem much easier than what I believe growing up in the city would be like. These students have so much working against them, that I think it isn't a lack of motivation among them that is keeping them from succeeding, because I'm sure they want to succeed. But they must be mentally broken. Going to the library and school can be a dangerous commute, and they are constantly surrounded by drugs and gang violence. They must spend so much time worrying about their own lives and the lives of their loved ones that have no time for studying. These students also don't have the resources available to them, which students from Deerfield have.

I agree with this response to Marks' article. (http://ideas.time.com/2011/12/15/if-i-was-a-middle-class-white-guy-writing-about-being-a-poor-black-kid/) Marks truly doesn't know what it is like growing up as an African American in an impoverished community, and neither do I, but I realize that only a person who has grown up in that situation can truly know what it is like.

IAT Test

Stereotypes and prejudices will always be a part of human society. Even if we consider ourselves to be accepting of other cultures and races, there is always a primitive, unconcious prejudice that exists within all humans. My results on the Race IAT test said that I showed a slight automatic preference to European Americans over African Americans. I hit the space bar sooner for a picture of a white person, than a black person. This surprised me because I believe that all people should be treated equally, and someones skin color, religion, or culture shouldn't be a source of hate. I think that the roots of this prefernce are where I was born and raised. I have spent my enitre life in a town where the extreme majority of people are white, but one of my best friends is black. I feel that if i was friends with him my tests may have leaned more towards white people simply because I had been spending my entire life in a community that consists of mostly white people.