Lead a Great Life Without a Doubt
As I open the thin envelope sweat begins to roll down my face. This is the moment I’ve been waiting for, ever since I was a little girl. I pull the paper out of the envelope and begin to read it out loud. It said I’m sorry but you are not accepted to this college, but good luck with your further college hunting. Tears began to form in my eyes. My smile became a frown and my heart was full of disappointment. I later found out that an African American guy got accepted, instead of me. The only reason he got in was because he had more points than me because of his different race. I deserved to be accepted to that college not him! I have worked up to this moment my whole life and now I don’t get accepted because someone got a couple more points than me because of their race. So what if he is a different race? What if I have better grades than him? It’s not fair! It’s sad to say that I’m not alone in this situation. This is happening all over the country at colleges everywhere. Affirmative action is positive discrimination. People think that affirmative action is fair because people of different races always have it bad, well now they don’t, and now it’s not fair to the people that really deserve to get into college because of their grades. That’s right the college of your dreams believes in affirmative action. Well I don’t! No one should get into college for having more points than me, while having a lower GPA.
Affirmative action is unfair to the people that have wanted to go to a certain college ever since they were in the womb of their very own mother and absolutely deserve to be accepted. If I had a really good GPA and really had a desire to go to that college, but got denied, because another person was African American so they got extra points, I would be pretty mad! That’s unfair because I deserved it and they didn’t but they got accepted anyway. Don’t colleges want the best students, with the strong desire to do well, and the best grades? Well it sure doesn’t seem like it.
Affirmative action isn’t just unfair, but it also promotes racism. At some colleges you can get extra points if you’re a different race. When people of a different race get into college, because they got extra points, people think they aren’t smart and the only reason they got in was because of their race. People should get into college based on their grades not the color of their skin.
For the citizens in East St. Louis things are a little different. People are so poor in that city that some can’t even afford health insurance and many are dying because of it. Not only that but their environment is so polluted that people can’t even go outside in some parts of town. Many high schools are being shut down because sewage is backing up into the schools and is flooding them. It is said that, “there are scores of window frames without glass, like sockets without eyes. Hallways in many schools are dark, with light bulbs missing or burnt out” (Kozol 7). A member of the city board has walked into one of the high schools and said, “you can smell the urinals a hundred feet away” (Kozol 7). Teenagers in East St. Louis aren’t getting the education they need to go to college. Some of the teenagers could care less about college, but there are some that really do care and want what is best for them and that’s getting a good education. It’s hard to get in to college, especially for the people from East St. Louis. Most people that come from East St. Louis won’t get into college, because of their lack of education. But if they were to get in they probably wouldn’t make it anyway. Because of East St. Louis’ lack of education people aren’t ready for college and when they get there they will struggle, plus most of them don’t have high enough grades or desire to learn.
People shouldn’t need extra help to get into college. If they really desire to get accepted, then they should have good grades and won’t need extra points to help them. Shouldn’t colleges want the best for themselves? Of course they do. This is why we should say no to affirmative action, but maybe if we try to help these people back in their hometowns instead of waiting until they get to college, we wouldn’t have to worry about affirmative action; colleges deserve the best students and that is what they’ll get if they judge students on grades alone.