The University of Texas and Affirmative Action
This article follows up the bake sale by the Young Conservatives of Texas and comments the University’s history with anti-Affirmative Action events and cases.
The bake sale by the Young Conservatives of Texas was not the first controversy that the University of Texas encountered with Affirmative Action. Recently in June , the United States Supreme Court upheld the use of race in admissions for the University of Texas in Fisher v. University of Texas (I know, same last name, but no relation). This belief that Affirmative Action takes jobs, college admission spots, other opportunities from white people who ‘more qualified’ and giving them to people of color is a farce.
The bake sale and Abigail Fisher’s case against the university show a growing fear that whites in America are being treated unfairly in comparison with people of color. I wonder why whites in America are afraid of being treated that way? I wonder if it has anything to do with a long history of racial discrimination in this country? I wonder if they believe that the opportunity is rightfully theirs to begin with?
Exploring the bake sale further shows that the YCT equate average income to Affirmative Action. Thus, Asian Americans making the most are the ones benefiting the most from Affirmative Action and therefore have to pay the most for baked goods. Obviously! This has nothing to do with the ‘brain drain’ and high paying jobs as a pull factor for Asians.
Just saying the words, ‘Affirmative Action’ leads one towards controversy. Many of us have very strong feelings towards it. While some may or may not agree with it, but the idea behind it is to redress the blatant discrimination of women and minorities throughout America’s history. Many protesters of Affirmative Action fail to address the root cause of Affirmative Action, white male privilege and the lack of understanding others’ lived experiences. When we as a society can recognize that our experiences and privilege are inherently different, then we can tackle the necessity of Affirmative Action.