Due to recent court cases like the one involving Harvard University and a group of Asian American students, affirmative action has seen an increase in national debates on the topic. Affirmative action is defined as a policy favoring those who tend to suffer from discrimination.  Affirmative action may seem like an efficient method of increasing diversity in universities, but in reality, it harms many groups in society. Affirmative action policies favor those that are seen as disadvantaged in society, such as African-Americans and Hispanics. Supporters of affirmative action say it is necessary in order to increase diversity on campuses and help certain groups.

However, opponents of affirmative action believe that admissions should be based on merit. They also argue that affirmative action is not only unfair, but also hurts those it is designed to help. While it is true that diversity on college campuses is important, there are too many negative aspects of affirmative action for universities to continue to use it.

For example, Elizabeth Slattery and Hope Steffenson explain how affirmative action can actually hurt minorities instead of helping them. They state that “in one study of top law schools, more than 50 percent of African-American law students [...] (many of whom had been admitted pursuant to affirmative action policies) were in the bottom 10 percent of their class. And the dropout rate among African-American students was more than twice that of their white peers (19.3 percent vs. 8.2 percent)” (Slattery and Steffenson).

This evidence shows that when individuals are admitted because of affirmative action they tend to either do poorly or drop out. This is harmful to minorities for many reasons. First, when African-American students end up at the “bottom” of their class, they reinforce negative stereotypes. Second, if they drop out of college, it becomes more difficult for them to become employed. While this further reinforces stereotypes, it also prevents them from providing for their family and succeeding in life. Therefore, their children will also be disadvantaged when applying for college, because they will be less able to afford tutors, multiple standardized tests, and other resources that would improve their chances of entering college. Clearly, affirmative action policies have hazardous effects on not only the lives of students, but the lives of future generations as well.

Additionally, affirmative action is incredibly unfair towards certain groups in society.  These policies make a blanket assumption that whites and Asians have more advantages than blacks and Hispanics, without taking into consideration the individual applying for college. Clarence Thomas of the United States Supreme Court writes, “Whites scoring between 163 and 167 on the LSAT are routinely rejected by the [the University of Michigan] Law School, and thus whites aspiring to admission at the Law School have every incentive to improve their score to levels above that range.... Blacks, on the other hand, are nearly guaranteed admission if they score above 155” (Thomas).

Thomas demonstrates the disparity between the expectations of whites and blacks. While it may be true that whites have historically had more power, wealth, and access to quality education than blacks, the assumption that these qualities apply to all whites or all blacks is not simply incorrect, it is immoral. Whites and Asians can be poor, and blacks and Hispanics can be rich. To hold individuals to different expectations based solely on the color of their skin is an injustice. For example, a poor Asian and a rich one would be held to the same high standard, even though one obviously has more opportunities than the other. A poor African-American and a rich one would be held to the same low standard, even though one is not as disadvantaged as the other. In order to truly help those of lower socioeconomic status and increase fairness in college admissions, colleges need to focus more on an individual’s situation rather than making incorrect assumptions based on race.

After extensive research, it can be proven that affirmative action not only harms minorities, but is also morally unjust. It is obvious that a different method of finding those fit to enter a university must be found. One proposal is to look into family income instead of race. This way, individuals who don’t have access to tutors or special classes, yet still manage to get good grades and standardized test scores, can be helped. Unfortunately, this method doesn’t eliminate the issue of academic mismatch.

The only way we can truly maximize diversity on college campuses and help minorities is through direct assistance earlier in life. If we as a society work together to provide quality education, reduce poverty, and decrease prejudice, more and more people of different backgrounds will be able to attend college. This is a very lofty goal, but we will be a step closer to achieving that goal once we realize we can no longer depend on a system as inefficient and immoral as affirmative action.