An Open Letter to the Department of Education
Dear Department of Education,
My name is Daphne and I am a student at a Summit charter school in Daly City. In my English class, we have been completing a project about issues in our society. One topic we discussed and read about was race and racism. Through this project, I have realized that student’s of color often don’t have opportunities open to them. In our society racism is still one of the biggest problem, and it has impacted tons of people. Many minority groups suffer and struggle with getting a job or getting accepted in universities. Some may feel unwanted, lonely, or isolated. This impacts many students with their mental health, and it may affect their personal life. I wanted to write to you specifically because I know that with affirmative action, it can support students and minority groups with disadvantages. In addition, we should consider affirmative action in college admissions. Don’t you think it’s not fair to be accepted in colleges because of your race, your personal background, or your appearance? I learned that in college admissions, affirmative action has been deeply debated. Based on my research, I argue that affirmative action is a positive thing in higher education because it is the best way to promote diversity and equity in college admissions, and it provides opportunities for students with disadvantages.
To start, affirmative action is the best way to promote diversity and equity. To give some context on this issue there are many universities wanting to be seen as a diverse college. There have been a variety of research on how this action benefits colleges. According to The Century Foundation, a progressive that helps reduce inequality, it states, “[…] racially integrated classrooms can reduce students’ racial bias, improve satisfaction and intellectual self-confidence, and enhance leadership skills. These benefits may translate to better economic outcomes[…]” In other words, Students are communicating much better with racial minorities. Much better! More are also successful when leaving college and have more chances in their careers. This information is significant because with this action, it supports equality and better economic outcomes. Do you think that it’s right to judge students by their race or their past experiences? Affirmative action can affect students who can reduce their racial bias, and enhance their leadership skills. Additionally, according to Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, written by Jeremy Adam Smith, it states, “Through a series of surveys, the researchers assessed sixth graders in three distinct emotional domains: feelings of safety at school, bullying and social exclusion, and loneliness. […] Students who enjoyed the most diversity in their classrooms throughout the day also scored the highest in each of these measures.” (“How Students Benefit from School Diversity”). This information is significant because it shows that this action is to address racial inequality, which helps many people who don’t have a window of opportunity. Overall, this data shows how affirmative action is important in college admissions, and benefits many schools to have a diverse community.
Furthermore, affirmative action provides opportunities for students with disadvantages. Because of this action, students from different backgrounds, who have been through many experiences, and many talents are better prepared for our society. According to The Atlantic, it states, “In about half of the largest 100 cities, most African American and Latino students attend schools where at least 75 percent of all students qualify as poor or low-income under federal guidelines. These stark results emerge from an analysis of data from the the National Equity Atlas.” (“The Concentration of Poverty in American Schools”). This means that affirmative action makes sure that students would have a chance to be apart of the community and that they don’t miss out on anything. This information is significant because I learned that affirmative action helps with discrimination against people of color and other excluded groups. Imagine if you were declined from a college you applied because of your past background or because of your race. In our society today, many people are quick to judge by just listening to rumors and just by their appearance. Furthermore, according to a 1998 book on affirmative action, The Shape of the River, two universities compared white and black students. “They found that black students who benefited from affirmative action generally succeeded despite their lower test scores; they graduated and went on to have successful lives, earning an average of $71,000 by their mid-30s and demonstrating high levels of civic participation.” This information is relevant because it shows that there have been research on how people of color who benefited from this action have been successful after college. Students are communicating much better with racial leaving college. Overall, this data shows how much this action can impact student and people in our society. Should we consider race into admissions to ensure a diverse community? To ensure this, we can all support affirmative action into higher education and support people of color and different backgrounds.
Some might argue that affirmative action may harm students in their future careers. According to Libby Nelson, in their work titled “Affirmative Action and the Supreme Court”, “[…]Sander (a UCLA law professor) argued, it lowers the number of [black students] that pass the bar. Eliminating race-based preferences, he calculated, would have boosted the number of black students who passed the bar among 2001 matriculants by 7.9 percent.” What the author mean here is that because it harms students of color, they struggle in classes or jobs that are too challenging for them. However, it is also true that many selective universities/colleges have students of color who succeed despite their difficult challenges. In the article “The Case for Affirmative Action” states, “Decades of research in higher education show that classmates of the direct beneficiaries also benefit. These students have more positive racial attitudes toward racial minorities, they report greater cognitive capacities, they even seem to participate more civically when they leave college.” Many struggle with discrimination and I want to ask you if it is right to shut, scrap, or ban this action that supports many students who are excluded? Therefore, affirmative action supports these students with hardships and become successful in the end.
Therefore, I implore you to suggest affirmative action in college admissions and consider race as part in universities to have a diverse community. This will make a difference because there are a lot of people who are willing to do anything to get accepted in a college or a job. It’s not fair that you can’t be accepted because of your race! That is crazy! Many excluded group may not be able to afford to get a stable job or may not be able to go to school. This can help a number of people to achieve their dreams and become successful.
Thank you for your time to consider this issue.
Kind regards,
Daphne S.
