Equal Opportunity

                America is the land of opportunity; opportunities which are supposed to benefit all who live here and all who come here. All minorities are given a chance to excel here, but does this go too far? I think that it does with our current affirmative action policies. Ideally, affirmative action isn’t a bad idea. Making sure that schools aren’t biased against any minority is a wonderful idea, but affirmative action goes too far.

                Instead of merely looking after a minority it takes away the equal opportunity for everyone. One person’s opportunities should not outweigh another’s, they should be the same as another’s. The Government should not be telling schools which students to enroll or who businesses should hire. They should be ensuring that these places are free from discrimination. It is not fair to a minority to be turned down because they’re a minority but it is also not fair to turn down a majority because they’re a majority.

                By giving minorities an edge for getting into college or getting a job you are also belittling their skills because the playing field was not the same for them. Is it truly a sense of accomplishment to receive benefits for something you were born into? (or a religion you might choose?) I have a friend who is half African American who was offered a scholarship based on her race. The thought sickened her that that was why she was being given a scholarship. She works hard in school and gets good grades but she knows that these have little to do with her scholarship opportunities. They will help her maintain the scholarship, but they are not why she really was chosen.

                The government has no right to decide who gets into a school or who gets a certain job. They’re job is to punish discrimination, not demand a quota. They have no right to give any minority extra money for simply being a minority. If the minority is in a low income situation they should receive the same benefits that the majority would.

                I think that eventually the affirmative action will dissolve with most of the prejudice as our world begins to move forward. I think that my generation is the least prejudice of them all so far, and that the younger generations will even surpass us. America is about opportunity, which shouldn’t be kept or favored toward anyone.