Since the beginning of minority-favoring policies in the late 1960s, a new way of viewing affirmative action has emerged.

The forgotten history affirmative action begins after death of Martin Luther King Jr when riots began to encompass the society. Out of fear, lawmakers began implementing laws to help get minority populations, especially African Americans, into workplaces and educational institutions. Since then, it has come to include Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Hispanics.

Recently, an investigation correlating with affirmative action came into view in June of 2023, which ruled that the use of race and ethnicity should be limited in making decisions for colleges. The Supreme Court ruled that the consideration of race is no longer permitted in making a suitable decision. In contrast, the College Board opposed that view and believed that diversity in higher education has proven to be effective. Now, the preliminary question remains: is affirmative action ethical?
All throughout the history of the United States, minorities have been yearning for equality against the white man. However, the population of Asians, Blacks, and other minorities combined is 24.5% in the US. As something that had once started out of fear, why change it when it has been used for around 70 years now and affects ¼ of the population?

A previous SHHS student, Arnav Jain, gives his views on affirmative action. Jain is now a sophomore in college at the University of Michigan, and he was admitted before the Supreme Court decided to lessen the impact of affirmative action.

“It’s a good process, but it shouldn’t be the main component of college decision-making,” Jain says.

Nobody should be admitted to a school purely based on their race. However, many organizations are revolting against race having anything at all to do with admissions. Organizations such as the Asian American Coalition for Education (AACE) and a corporation that sued Harvard known as Students for Fair Admissions believe that their race should have absolutely nothing to do with admissions or even that their race shouldn’t deny them acceptance. In opposition to this, 65% of Asian Americans still support affirmative action.

Conclusively, The Supreme Court decided that colleges should be racially conscious instead of having quotas or denying race all together. Harvard claimed in their trial that they have been admitting students based on holistic review, which is based upon having race as a factor but combining a series of other factors such as standardized tests and GPA. Colleges are now trying to get to know their students, and if race has defined their lives significantly, they will consider that.

So, do you want to be recognized from just your ACT score, or let colleges choose from a platter of factors that make you, you?