[Squirrel]

First draft:


Why Affirmative Action is ********

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English language defines Affirmative Action as a “Program that seeks to redress past discrimination through active measures to ensure equal opportunity, as in education and employment”. The street meaning for this is, ‘getting something for nothing’. Companies and schools are becoming too eager to please minorities who most of the time aren't as deserving as people who aren't in the minority. But these businesses and institutions have a valid reason, if they don’t hire or accept a person of a certain race the ‘Race Card’ automatically gets thrown. “I wasn’t hired because I’m black”, “I didn't get accepted because I’m Jewish”. Never have I heard “I wasn't hired because I am unqualified” on 60 Minutes. No, it’s always about somebody who thinks they deserve something they did not earn.
I was driving to the Stockton Hockey game last Saturday when I heard that PST was hiring people for their radio station, It was the standard radio station ad. “If you are a hard worker who does great in a team. Who can put in the hours and make the listeners want to keep coming back to PST, we have a position for you”. I didn't think anything of it, until the last line which I played over again and again in my mind, “Minorities are encouraged to apply.” Why? Are minorities special? Can they do something non-minorities can? I didn't know race or religion was a qualification for a career.
I am your standard white guy, I don't have a hard life, I don’t have to worry about how my college bills are paid. But I know people that do, and it’s not because they are poor, but it’s because they aren't a minority. I always thought minorities had it easier until I was rudely awakened over the summer of my junior to senior year in high school. I opened my township’s newspaper to find out I wasn't in the majority, my high school was 51% Black, 44% Caucasian, and 5% Other. All this time, I was a minority. Did I get special treatment because I was a minority? No. Were my penalties less severe? No. Did I get extra time on assignments and tests? No. I finally came to the conclusion that minorities aren't treated specially. But then I realized that I was wrong, minorities were treated specially, but only certain minorities. Being a white minority is just like being in the majority, there is no difference, and that’s discriminatory.
CNN reported, On December 22nd, 2003 the Supreme Court ruled that the University of Michigan was unconstitutional by “Granting points for an applicants race, equivalent to a full grade point on a student’s GPA.” A full point. That would have made my rock steady 3.6 in high school an amazing and unobtainable 4.6, if I were Mexican. Just because they are a minority does not make them more qualified, but yet it makes them more diserable to colleges. Race looks better on a college resume than being a selected All-American Athlete. A couple decades ago the Supreme Court “Outlawed quotas but still left more for schools to improve the odds for minority applicants.” So, basically, being a minority has a majority of pull with schools.
Now some people may not believe me, so here is first hand proof, it cost me $50 last year, but it was defiantly worth it. Last year, a Black friend of mine was turned down by a historically Black college, while I felt bad for him at the time since that was his number one school, I saw it as an opportunity for me.
I took a copy of his turned down application and got a fresh one for myself. I copied his application word for word, changing my name, address, a couple words on the essay, and the last change; the ‘White/Caucasian’ bubble was filled in. I send it off and anxiously wait for a reply, it was like the night before Christmas every time I saw the mail man. Until that one day, it came. I opened it up and read, “Dear Mr. Barnett, we are proud to inform you of your acceptance to (College Here), we are especially pleased about your interest in a Historically Black institution. We cordially invite you and your family to take a campus tour etc. etc.” I was satisfied at this point, but a week or so later I started receiving outrageous scholarship offers that I never received from my personal schools, even though my personal resume made his resume looked like it was written in crayon. Maybe it just pays to be different.