Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Racial Quotas are Racist

The supreme court is hearing a case today about racial quotas in school. It amounts to the age-old battle for affirmative action. And as liberal as I may be, affirmative action will never seem like a good idea to me. There are many that say programs such as these need to be in place in insure that school segregation does not occur, but I think it occurs anyway. In my experience, basing some one's attendance in school on skin color not only creates more problems than it solves, but it is also racist.
The reason the supreme court is hearing this case is because of two systems that are being questioned in Kentucky and Washington State. In both school districts, administration has put in place an affirmative action system for admitting students. In both cases, student were denied entry because certain racial quotas had already been met. Most people will automatically think that the students in both cases were black. That is not the case. The students denied entry were a mix group of white, black, and Latino backgrounds. And because of this system, they were told they could not attend school in these districts.
Affirmative action has always amazed me. For years, a group of people from all different walks for life have fought for equal rights for all people. This system of affirmative action is an affront to their cause. If someone is applying for a job, race should not be a factor. And that is were racial quotas come in. Because of affirmative action, employers and now schools must have a certain number of each "race" based on the makeup of the community. That is simply ridiculous. It shouldn't matter at all. And that goes double for a school.
My theory on schools has always been one of physical address. Wherever you live, you should have to attend the closest public school. Of course the exception being those that pay for private school. So if a community has 400 white students and 150 black students, they should all be enrolled in the same school. It is simple. No one was judged on color. The school district should simply look at your address and see if you are in their district. If you are not in their district, you should not go to school there. Common sense people.
When it comes right down to it, racial quotas are racist instruments. If a black guy is denied a job because he is black, that is racism. And the same is true for the white guy or the Latino guy. If two men apply for the same job and one is more educated and trained for the position, which one deserves the job? Easy answer, the educated one. I didn't ask to see if he was black or white. It doesn't matter.
The supreme court should realize what many logical thinkers already have. Racial quotas have got to go. They don't do anything but continue to divide this country on racial lines. And while that may be in the best interest for a small group of good-ole-boys, it is not in the best interest for America. Let people go to school where they live. Don't force schools to account for race when they already have to account for so much more.

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