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Kelsie Newman Period 3 January 26, 2012

January 21, 2012 The Affirmative Action War Goes On

Summary: Racial affirmative action in public university admissions is a major role in deciding diversity in college universities. Obama is trying to make college campuses more diverse in their cultures and allow it to be easier for other races to get in with out a problem. States in the United States, mainly in the south, find that his decision is a problem, and they want to ban affirmative actions in their college submissions. There have been three notable lawsuits around the country that show the continuing controversy. There was one last summer that happened in Michigan. They banned affirmative action in public university admissions. This March, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit will reconsider their decisions on what they believe. By prohibiting race-conscious admissions under the Michigan Constitution, the court said, the ban “reorders the political process in Michigan to place special burdens on minority interests.” Another lawsuit happened at The University of Texas at Austin. In the Fifth Circuit, a three-judge panel a year ago upheld the use of race as a factor in admissions. 4/5’s of students there are admitted as graduates in the top 10 percent of their high school classes. But one-fifth are admitted based on individual assessments, including race as a factor, and this program is being challenged. The university is still battling with that lawsuit. The last lawsuit is next month In California. This is about the courts decision to dismiss a challenge to California’s Proposition 209, which outlawed race-conscious admissions in 1996. Their goal as high authorities is to make everyone have an equal chance no matter what race. They think this will all depend on the Presidential election and who is elected. Relevance: Suppose that these colleges are following patterns from our past history with racism and segregation and that they think its right to not let people in their schools. Somethings that could contribute to it was in fact racial segregation. This is by definition, the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as drinking from a water fountain, eating in a restaurant, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home.[1] This was a big part of history, this caused so many problems with riots, shootings, fights, and strikes. No one thought the minorities deserved the time of day, or that they amounted to anything. Kinda like people in those colleges. They think they shouldn't have diversity, even though that would probably make them more known. Another reason could be the Asian-American Civil rights movement. "This happen in the 1960s and ’70s. Asian Americans mobilized for a slew of political causes, including the development of ethnic studies programs in universities, the end of the Vietnam War and reparations for Japanese Americans placed in internment camps during World War II".(About.com) This relates to this article because the Asians wanted rights in universities, and wanted to have programs developed for them. Their part of the minorities and just like the colleges in the south, they have a hard time accepting affirmative actions with racial admissions. The Black codes were a big deal in the United states right after the Civil War. These were laws made that limited the rights and civil rights of blacks. Though these codes varied from state to state, they all wanted to secure a steady supply of cheap labor, and continued to assume the inferiority of the freed slaves. This is like the limitation of minorities accepted into those colleges, they don't give them equal chance and equal opportunity. Evaluation: Though this articles points out interesting topics about affirmative actions in college admissions, most happen in the south. Maybe it’s a coincidence, but seeing as that’s where slavery was the worst and that's where they are having the most problems with Universities,it doesn’t seem as though it would be. Anyone should be allowed to go to a public college, no matter what their race is. Seeing as it is a PUBLIC college. There shouldn't be any limitations except for the exception of GPA and grades. Nothing is different but the color of their skin. Maybe if it was a private college it wold be different but that’s not even the case. So many people see it as a big deal, having different races in school, or work, or even any where in everyday life. People stereotype them so much daily, "there not smart enough", "they can't do this job". There minds are immature, they can't handle being wrong, they might know that no matter what race, we all have the ability to do the same stuff. Also, they said this could all change when the presidential election is over with, but why doesn’t Obama do something with it now, and make it so that all of the United States is the same? It’s weird how some colleges can do that stuff, if everyone is supposed to be “equal” and have “equal rights”. He is the president, he as the authority to make a law or act that changes the way people do their college admissions. If the new president over looks these cases that have been put on some universities, I feel like that would violate the constitution on equal rights, and all having the same opportunities. Obama says he wasn't to spread diversity in colleges all around the United States but he is letting this happen in the south, and not changing it. I mean their are law suits going on right now, but there not as high ranked as Obama. He doesn't stick to his "word" by saying how important it is to have "racial diversity" in colleges.

Questions - -Why does it seem like its only going on in one area of the United states? -How can colleges get away with banning affirmative actions with the minorities? -Why doesn't Obama take action and do something if he is the one that wants to change it? -Does having more problems with universities in the southern part of the United states, have anything to do with slavery? -If the past events in history didn't happen, do you think we would have these problems we face with it today? -What do the different circuits in the supreme court mean?

Bibliography: New York Times. "The Affirmative Action War Goes On - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. N.p., 21 Jan. 2012. Web. 26 Jan. 2012. .

"Asian-American Civil Rights Movement – History of the Asian-American Civil Rights Movement." Race Relations. Web. 26 Jan. 2012. .

"Black Codes (United States)." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 26 Jan. 2012. .

"Racial Segregation." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 26 Jan. 2012. .