Affirmative Action Programs Research Paper

In strictly numerical terms, a majority is more than half a total, and a minority is less than half. But what happens if the balance shifts, and the minorities become the majority? This is what is happening all across America. Within less than half a century, whites will become a minority across all of the United States. Even with whites becoming a minority, affirmative action programs are still in full effect, especially in college admissions, in order to benefit the previous minority groups. The college admissions requirements of test scores and GPAs, as well as race conscious admissions counselors are continuously affected by the no longer essential affirmative action programs of the past, and inevitably lead to reverse racism. As President

Supreme Court in May of 1954. In the case of Brown vs Board of Education, the court unanimously decided that segregated educational facilities were unequal and violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. In doing so, the court overturned its previous decision in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), which allowed for "separate but equal" public facilities. After this ruling, many schools tried to right the wrongs of the past by installing affirmative action programs into their admission guidelines. But a few years after these programs began, a case, Bakke vs University of California, came to court and was the first blow to racial preferences. Allan Bakke, a white male in his mid-thirties, applied to the University of California's medical program twice and was denied both times. As a part of the university's affirmative action program, they reserved sixteen out of one hundred seats for “disadvantaged students” which the university defined as blacks, Latinos, American-Asians and American-Indians. Even though Bakke's credentials exceeded those of the minorities, he was rejected because he was not considered a disadvantaged student. Bakke decided to bring this case to the Supreme Court, as he deemed it to be reverse discrimination. The court voted in favor of Bakke and stated that a university could not reserve spots for minority students as it was another violation of the Equal

Even though the equal protection clause prohibits classifications of individuals based on race, colleges still use race as a preference during the application process. So in order to increase diversity without being unconstitutional, universities will never admit students based on "quotas," but they will "sculpt" the class with race and gender percentages in mind. By not specifically having quotas, universities are able to remain constitutional while increasing diversity in their admissions. One study, Kane(1998) found that elite colleges place less weight on high school GPAs of minority applicants than of comparable white applicants. This study proves true at the University of Michigan, a race conscious admissions school, where the cumulative GPAs of blacks and Hispanics are consistently lower than those of whites and Asians. So although they were not admitted based exclusively on race, it is clear that minority groups are given preference due to the lower averages of these groups compared to others. Not only are minorities grades consistently lower, but they are given a boost on tests such as the SAT. According to the National Study of College Experience, African American applicants received the equivalent of 230 extra SAT points (on a 1600 scale), Hispanic students received an extra 150 points, and Asian Americans had an average of 50 points deducted from their SAT