Why Affirmative Action is still very

Necessary Today.

Michelle Antwi
1/4/20

Independent Research
Dr. Melissa Kiehl
Abstract

The increase of banning of affirmative action policies in universities has been a rising issue. It

has people thinking what exactly is affirmative action and what it does it do. Affirmative action

is a set of policies and programs that focus on helping marginalized minority groups receive help

and opportunities that many haven’t had in the past. Affirmative action recognizes that there is

still a huge gap between the economic and social status of minority and non minority groups so

it’s policies work towards increasing diversity in various communities, especially within colleges

and universities. To do this in the most effective way possible, it is necessary to make sure that

the help is going where it is most needed so these policies mostly focus on helping those

struggling the most in school, poverty, and the students coming from low income communities.

With many of the children being apart of marginalized groups, they get a lot of assistance which

has led some others to feel as if it is not fair or even use the excuse of “reverse discrimination.”

This paper hopes to discredit claims as those through the history of marginalized minority groups

and their experiences in the county, through data of college enrollment among minority students,

and through the input of some credible individuals who make it their mission to see all students

succeed.
Introduction

Removing affirmative action programs from schools has only caused the number of
minority students admitted each year to go down. There has been an increase in banning
affirmative action programs and the effects of this aren’t being talked about enough. It is a
continued theme that people of certain marginalized groups are becoming more and more under
represented. Affirmative action is an important effort to improve the employment or educational
opportunities for members of minority groups who might not have had a lot of those
opportunities previously. It gives people a chance to pull themselves into better situations
economically and/or socially, and overall allows for more representation in colleges/universities
and workplaces which only benefits everyone. The purpose of this paper is to prove the
effectiveness of affirmative action looking through the lens of economic issues such as poverty,
statistics reflecting the amount of POC in colleges, and the increase of diversity in workplaces.

Policies of affirmative action have been around for a very long time, dating back to the
Civil Rights act of 1964. Affirmative action means, “Positive steps taken to increase the
representation of women and minorities in areas of employment, education, and culture from
which they have been historically excluded” (Affirmative Action). President John F. Kennedy
made an executive order which stated that government contractors should take into account the
concept of affirmative action so that job opportunities could expand over to the people in
minority groups. This was when affirmative action really started to get implemented in many
places such as universities/higher education and work places. There was some controversy over
the subject around that time but it was mainly considered “barely a threat to these education
institutions since the number of racial and ethnic minorities receiving PhDs every year was very
small” (Affirmative Action). Now there is a very big argument going on about this subject. The
opposing opinions of affirmative action feel as though, “When the employers and the schools
favor women and blacks, they commit the same injustice perpetrated by Jim Crow
discrimination” (Affirmative Action). There are many reasons why these 2 things can’t be
compared to each other but nonetheless, these people believe that affirmative action policies are

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a big part of what they call “reverse racism.” The other side of the argument explains how this
concept plays a very important role when it comes to improving hard conditions many people of
minority groups face. It allows for more representation which is ultimately more beneficial to
everyone because different people bring different things to the table. It also gives more of an
opportunity to kids who might have lacked these chances growing up and more.

Review of Literature, Research

Belonging to a racial minority group in America comes with many added challenges.
They tend to struggle with things such as segregation, underfunding, fewer resources and more.
As a result these students already fall behind because they don’t have the privilege other students
may have when it comes to certain situations. (Maxwell & Garcia) Even in today's times, some
schools are still very segregated. The city Austin, Texas is a great example of this. “The city’s
long history of segregation can be felt within the public schooling system. More than
three-quarters of Austin’s public schools, for instance, have a poverty rate that is either 80
percent and higher or 40 percent and lower.” (Boser & Baffour) The city of Austin has been split
economically wise, the west side includes those who have managed to accumulate a great
amount of wealth and the east side contains many residents who live well below the poverty line.
Naturally, it makes sense how the students living in the wealthier side of Austin will have the
appropriate funding needed to give them all of the resources that they will need to be successful.
The other side of Austin will struggle more. Poverty seems to be a big issue in these lower
funded communities. Poverty comes with even more of a disadvantage especially for people of
color and underfunding is usually a big one. For example, there are students out there who have
to make the decision of using the little money they have to buy new school supplies or buy
lunch. There are students who might need a tutor but due to the lack of underfunding in their
communities, they might not have access to one. According to (Whitehurst, Reeves & Rodrigue),
“race and economic status are highly correlated, with black students four times as likely to be in
a high-poverty school as a low-poverty one.” With people of color being the larger population
that make up those who live in poverty, these issues affect these communities of people to a

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greater extent. The goal of affirmative action programs and policies is to improve the
employment or educational opportunities for members of minority groups who might not have
had a lot of those opportunities previously. Affirmative action is in place so that the people in
these communities facing these kinds of problems have a way to get out of them. It provides
opportunities for those who are stuck in unfortunate circumstances, to have chances at a better
life. Underfunding, Segregation, and fewer resources are prevalent problems in low income
communities. They all can have a great impact on how well a student does in school. Affirmative
action recognizes that and allows for students to move past that and thrive.

When the time rolls around for students to start applying to colleges, those who are facing
issues like poverty often find themselves in hard places. Students who grow up with less support
do not get the same opportunities as other students. The question they might ask themselves is:
How am I supposed to compete with kids who have gotten many different and unique
opportunities throughout their career as a student? “Research shows that the amount spent
educating students can affect their success” (Gacia) The students who have the privilege of
growing up with an abundance of resources and opportunities are already headed and prepared
for the right path. These things could be as big as access/exposure to internships and getting to
play a sport outside of school-
“According to data recently released by the Aspen Institute’s Sports and Society program,
household wealth is the primary driver of kids’ athletic participation...the children who
are excluded from that frenzy, most of them from lower-income families, suffer more
enduring losses. These children miss out on the scads of positive outcomes that are linked
to regular exercise, including longer life expectancies, improved mental and physical
health, and better grades in school, higher likeliness to go to college and more.”
(Flanagan)
It could also be something as small as having good internet access and access to private tutors.
“According to a new report from Michigan State University’s Quello Center. The educational
setbacks of having slow or limited internet access can have significant impacts on academic
success, college admissions and career opportunities.” (MSU Today) While the more privileged

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students get to write down all the amazing opportunities they’ve had the chance to get on their
college applications the less privileged students struggle to find things that will make them stand
out. There are students who have a lot of potential to be successful but factors such as their lack
of opportunities and less funding can mask their true potential. They don’t have much to build
off of so many just hope that their desired college will recognize the situation they’re in and look
past that. Affirmative action allows for colleges to take into account the different circumstances
each student is in. The point of affirmative action is to recognize the fact that students are going
to be coming from all different kinds of backgrounds so judging them based on the same scale as
more privileged students would not be fair.

“Black children in poor neighborhoods are likely to remain in such surroundings as

adults.” (Strauss) There are constant obstacles that black and other minority students have to face
on a daily basis. The statistics and test scores don’t really reflect the entire situation. Poverty,
racism, bullying- they all will have an impact on how well a student performs academically. As
stated above, “Black and Latino students are also far more likely to attend schools in low-income
neighborhoods, which is tied closely to academic achievement, in part because of a lack of
resources.”(Furfaro) Minority students tend to face racism in schools at a pretty high rate.
According to Hsieh, “American Indian and Native-Alaskan girls were suspended at higher rates
than white boys or girls, Black students were expelled at three times the rate of white students,
Black girls were suspended at higher rates than all other girls and most boys.” These stats all
reflect the racism in the public schooling system. According to Nittle’s article, Students of color
are, “....more likely to attend schools with a greater police presence, increasing the odds that they
will enter the criminal justice system. The presence of law enforcement on school campuses also
increases the risk of such students being exposed to police violence.” The article also states how,
“Students of color face racial microaggressions in schools as well, such as being criticized by
teachers and administrators for wearing their hair in styles that reflect their cultural heritage.”
Racism along with bullying can heavily impact the success of a student in school. “Racial
minority students (particularly Black and Hispanic students) are more likely to be bullied in
school. Racial minority students specifically report more instances of being threatened, hit, put

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down by peers, or having belongings forced from them, stolen or damaged.” The article also
points out how, “Adolescent bullying has been shown to be linked to depression, low
self-esteem, and loneliness. Further, youth who are bullied are less likely to succeed in school, as
victimization is also associated with poor school adjustment, in-school suspension, and school
avoidance.” (Kaminski) Minority students are at a greater risk to experience racism and bullying
in school on top of the issue of poverty that they have a greater risk of facing as well. When test
scores and GPA’s are recorded, oftentimes there can be external influences reflecting these
things. The students facing these obstacles are also the students who need the benefits of
affirmative action the most. Affirmative action is there to help students find a way out of the
injustices that they face because college degrees are viewed as “a primary vehicle” to help lower
poverty and the wealth gap among people of minorities and people who do not belong to a
minority group. (UNCF)
Poverty is an issue that affects a very large amount of POC. Now that we know a little
more about this very prevalent issue we can look at data for how affirmative action helps POC
get higher education and the reasons for it’s importance. There is data from 2007 that shows that
“There were 170,167 African Americans enrolled in graduate education in the United States.
They made up 13 percent of all graduate students. This equals the black percentage of the U.S.
population.” (Titcomb) This was all possible with the help of affirmative action policies and
programs. Affirmative action also allowed for “black enrollments in graduate education to
increase at an average of 8 percent each year From 1997 to 2007.” (Titcomb) One of the many
reasons why affirmative action is necessary is because it promotes diversity. Students need to be
in a community where they are exposed to all different kinds of people from all different kinds of
backgrounds. Promoting a place where everyone is different allows for people to get to know and
gain respect for the different cultures around them. “On average, students in socioeconomically
and racially diverse schools — regardless of a student’s own economic status — have stronger
academic outcomes than students in schools with concentrated poverty.” (Strauss) There are
other benefits to racially integrated schools and classrooms, these could include how students are
less likely to drop out, test scores improve, student surveys even show that exposure to diversity
reduces anxiety. (The Century Foundation) Affirmative action programs do not only benefit the

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most vulnerable students, by promoting diversity in different campuses, it has everyone's best
interests in mind.

Regardless of all the positive effects affirmative action has, there has been an increase in
affirmative action bans. Many states are beginning to stand behind “race-blind” admissions. This
essentially means that colleges would no longer consider race in their admissions process. There
was never a point in time where the general public was in full support of these policies. In fact,
the first legal case against affirmative action took place in 1971 which is approximately 2 years
after affirmative action policies started making their way into the universities. Marcus DeFunis, a
white student, compiled a lawsuit against the University of Washington Law school. He claimed
that the only reason he wasn’t admitted to the school was because of “reverse racism.” The case
ended up getting dismissed because it took too long for it to get to the supreme court and he was
also close to receiving his law degree. (Caroltn) The lawsuits did not stop here. Many more
lawsuits against different universities started to get introduced to court because of the use of
affirmative action policies in the college admissions process. Some well known cases that made
it to the supreme court include, the Regents of the University of California v. Bakke case and the
Fischer v. The University of Texas case. These two cases weren’t too far from eachother, they
both involve students suing universities because they felt as if they were victims of reverse
discrimination. The cases ended up making a significant impact on affirmative action and it’s
future in some universities. “Promoting a race-blind system has made it impossible to selectively
help marginalized groups without claims of reverse discrimination.” (Carolton) Many believe
that the increase in resistance to these affirmative action policies are making it harder to help the
marginalized groups of people that have been historically excluded from higher education. There
is now data that can prove the negative effects of the increase in bans on the amount of minority
students admitted.

The enrollment and admission of minority students has been suffering due to the increase
in bans. For example in California in 1997, “California’s Proposition 209 is passed by California

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voters, banning the use of race in admissions to state universities. As a result, the number of
black freshmen accepted at the University of California at Berkeley is down 57 percent in 1998,
the first year the ban goes into effect.” (Titcomb) The racial wealth gap in california also seemed
to suffer after Proposition 209 passed because it, in a way, set back an entire generation of
minority students who would have had the benefit of going to good school in California. The
representation of different minority groups are at a very high risk because the affirmative action
policies that were banned, played a big role in assisting the students that needed the most help. It
is said that “black students are underrepresented by at least 20 percent at 79 percent of the
country’s research universities and Hispanic students are underrepresented by at least 20 percent
at 82 percent of the country’s public research universities.” (Munguia) In 1998, “Proposition 200
is approved by Washington State voters, banning racial preferences in admissions decisions at
public universities. One year later, black applicants to the University of Washington are down 17
percent.” The data consistently shows the bad influence banning affirmative action policies has
on the representation of minority students in the college campuses. Some of the states and
universities who have banned affirmative action and have chosen to recognize the decline in
representation have tried other methods to promote diversity but none have been effective
enough to stop the ongoing decline. Although the correlation between the bans and the minority
student enrollment are very clear, many of those who oppose affirmative action are still choosing
to ignore the issue which made affirmative action necessary in the first place, now there is an
even larger struggle in the marginalized communities.

It’s important to be fully aware of what affirmative action does, but it is just as important
to know the long term benefits affirmative action has. “Research has shown that once admitted
to top-tier institutions, low-income students complete their degree at higher rates and earn almost
as much as wealthy students post graduation” (Maxwell & Garcia) By providing the less
fortunate students with a better education, it is shown that they can succeed at a very high rate.
Some argue that affirmative action isn’t effective because they believe in something called the
mismatch theory. This theory argues that, “non-academic preferences in college admissions
ill-serve some intended beneficiaries, who end up admitted to schools for which they are

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relatively unprepared, and struggling, rather than thriving at different schools where they would
be at least as well prepared as their classmates.” (Friedersdorf) In other words, the people who
support this theory believe that admitting students who aren’t fully prepped for the school they
wish to attend would do worse than if they were to go to a school that was more “on their level.”
Luckily according to Friedersdorf, “research has found this isn't true. If anything, it's the
opposite—students benefit from going to the best college that will admit them, even if their
academic credentials are a stretch, because more selective colleges tend to have higher
graduation rates.” (Friedersdorf) Another long term benefit of affirmative action is “By giving
minorities and disadvantaged groups an equal opportunity to attain education and employment,
the policy increases their chances of climbing up the socioeconomic ladder.” (Affirmative
Action) Giving marginalized groups a chance to climb the socioeconomic ladder also allows for
the wealth gap between minority and non minority groups to narrow down and it allows for
poverty rates, overtime, to decrease.

Methods and Data Collection

In preparation for this paper, I conducted a few Interviews. One of the interviewed people
included Dr. Kevin Gilbert. Dr. Gilbert serves Howard County as The director of Diversity,
Equity, and Inclusion. He is a very creditable human resource to contact considering all the work
he has done in Howard county to promote diversity. I also had the pleasure of speaking with Ms.
Razia Kosi. Ms. Kosi also works in the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion department of Howard
county as a facilitator so she has similar experience to Dr. Gilbert. The next interviewed person
was Kwame Rose. Mr. Rose is a social activist mainly in the Baltimore area. He focuses a lot of
his work on trying to improve the conditions of our urban communities so his experience and
insight was useful since he has witnessed many things first hand.

While also preparing for this paper, I completed a Meta-Analysis of multiple, previously
conducted, studies that measure the direct impacts of affirmative action policy bans in
universities all across the country on minority students. To answer the overall research question,
“How effective is affirmative action when getting people of color into college? What are its

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impacts?” and to prove my hypothesis, Affirmative action is an important effort to improve the
employment or educational opportunities for members of minority groups who might not have
had a lot of those opportunities previously. It gives people a chance to pull themselves into better
situations economically and/or socially, and overall allows for more representation in
colleges/universities and workplaces which only benefits everyone - the data collected in the
conducted interviews is supposed to reflect on why affirmative action and diversity is so
important and the data from the meta analysis is supposed to show and prove why affirmative
action bans are hurting minority students. To highlight -whilst these human resources and meta
analysis studies are very creditable, it is important to know that there is always the possibility of
information being perceived differently throughout the entire process of data collection.

The materials I used for my interviews weren't anything much. The most important thing I
needed to have was a set list of questions to ask my human resources. My meta analysis also
didn’t require much. I used the information and experiments from the studies to assist me. The
procedure in the first article was relatively pretty simple. The study examined 19 public
universities in the states that have banned affirmative action, and it examined enrollments
through 2015. From the information presented in the article, this was more of a longitudinal
study because it was taking and comparing data from different periods of time. (Jashik)

The second study was also a longitudinal study that specifically focuses on the enrollment of
black and hispanic students in the different colleges across the states that have banned
affirmative action. The enrollment data was pulled from some of the popular universities in states
that included, California, Texas, Florida, Michigan, and Washington. The data also showed, for
some schools, the positive impacts of bringing affirmative action back into schools. (Fessenden
& Keller)

The 3rd article, compared to the other data sets, is more specific and it compares the data for the
underrepresented students to the data of the overrepresented students in different schools but it
still follows the same sort of procedure by measuring the enrollment gap of minority students.

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This research contained both longitudinal and cross-sectional, it compared data from multiple
points in time and it also compared data from different schools but in the same time period.
(Ashkenas, Park, & Pearce)

The final article focuses on the data of the applicants in the University of California after
proposition 209 came into play. It measures many variables such as how banning university
affirmative action impacted applicants’ enrollment quality, major choice, and degree attainment.
(Bleemer)

As for the interviews, I asked Dr. Kevin Gilbert because he has a lot of knowledge and
experience when it comes to promoting diversity because it’s his job. I knew he would be able to
recognize the most efficient and effective ways to promote diversity in universities. I also asked
Ms. Kosi because she too, has a lot of experience in the field of working to promote diversity in
schools. I asked Mr. Kwame Rose because of his experience of fighting for those who do not
have much in the first place. He realizes that there are people struggling so he has devoted a lot
of time to see what he could do to help his community. Due to the circumstances we are in right
now, the best way to conduct the interviews was through a zoom call so that was the main source
of communication used.

Results and Data Analysis

Meta Analysis:
According to the first article, “Averaging across the 19 universities studied, the share of
underrepresented students (black, Latinx and Native American students) among enrolled U.S.
students was 15.7 percentage points below these students’ share among high school graduates in
the individual states where the universities are located. However, this gap rose to 16.8 percentage
points, on average, in the year immediately after the ban, and the gap increased in subsequent
years to 17.9 percentage points.” (Jaschick) This data proves that the banning of affirmative
action policies is having a great effect on the underrepresented groups of students by making the
gap between the high school graduates and those who enrolled in the colleges wider (less people

10
enrolled). The data of the second study shows the gap between those who are eligible to go to
college and those who actually enrolled and how that gap continues to increase over time. It also
shows, for some states, the gaps decrease when the school returns to the use of affirmative action

The enrollment gap for the University of Texas is shown above (Fessenden & Keller).
The blue highlighted portion of the graph is supposed to represent the time that affirmative action
was banned in the university. The unhighlighted regions represent the enrollment gap
before/after the bans to affirmative action. To measure the enrollment gap you subtract the % of
the freshman who are hispanic (13%), by the states’ college-aged residents who are hispanic
(39%). From this, we know that the enrollment gap amongst hipanic students in the University of
Texas gets as high as 26%.

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 After affirmative action policies were reinstated, the enrollment gap got as low as 20%.
This research does not only prove that there are negative impacts of banning affirmative action, it
proves why it is necessary because it shows the data of the gaps decreasing when universities
return to using affirmative action policies.

The third study’s data shows the theme of minority students having the lowest representation
especially after affirmative action policies had been removed from the universities

The graph pictured above was provided by the third article (Ashkenas, Park, & Pearce). The
article then begins to explain how, “both Hispanic and black students are least represented at
Berkeley, the most selective campus. On seven campuses, Hispanic students now make up a
quarter or more of the freshmen, but that’s still far below their share of the college-age
population in the state, which is close to 50 percent” (Ashkenas, Park, & Pearce) This research
shows how minority students are constantly underrepresented which can also contribute to the
explanation of why minorities are constantly at the bottom economically.

The final study essentially proved with different experiments and analyses of the students
enrolled into the University of California, that banning affirmative action has a lot more of an
impact on things rather than just the numbers like major choice and degree attainment. “I

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observed detailed course enrollment records at five UC campuses, ranging from the
most-selective Berkeley campus to the less selective Riverside and Santa Cruz campuses. I
employ these records using a difference-in-difference design to analyze how URM students’
enrollment at less-selective UC campuses impacts their STEM course outcomes after Prop 209.”
“Since URM students are less likely to enroll at UC campuses following Prop 209 they are less
likely to have the opportunity at their degrees” (Bleemer) This research just goes to show how
banning affirmative action has a lot of ripple effects on different aspects that some universities
might not think about.

Interviews:
For the interviews conducted, I made a list of questions that I would like to have gotten input
from. Out of the many questions that I came up with and asked, I narrowed them down to 5
specific questions that could touch on everything I wanted to touch on.

Question 1: The term “affirmative action” and it’s meaning can differ depending on who you talk
to, what does it mean to you?
According to Dr. Gilbert, “It’s a process of intentionally ensuring that you provide opportunities
for employment for all individuals, especially towards traditionally marginalized communities of
people. Historically speaking, because of this country's history, we have not paid attention to
some of the details around diversity, as we should. And so the term affirmative action was
created as a way to be intentional about making sure that employers sought to diversify their
workforces through traditionally marginalized communities.”

Question 2: How important do you think it is for people to be exposed to a diverse community?
According to Mr. Rose, America is probably the most segregated place on Earth. At the same
time, it's the most diverse place on Earth. We are number one in the amount of different cultures
and ethnicities that live in this country, yet we all force each other to live in, you know, certain
pockets. We find these prejudices being embedded into our minds from television, family
members or etc, but until we experience one on one, then we won't know and so it is very

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important for diversity because diversity is essential when it comes to the preservation of
cultures.”

Question 3: Where do you think we should implement more affirmative action policies?
Ms. Razia Kosi responded... “ Being in education I think that in schools- how are we looking at
who we're hiring for our students? Seeing teachers, administrators, and other people who are
different from them is very important. I think education is an important field to do that, because,
you know, especially in public education, students are young and impressionable. Seeing
different people, helps get them exposed to different things and see things outside their own
communities.”

For the last question, I wanted to include all the answers that I got. They are all displayed in the
chart below.
Question 4: Critics say that affirmative action is just another example of “reverse
discrimination.” What are your views on that?

Dr. Kevin Gilbert Mr. Kwame Rose Ms. Razia Kosi

Question #4 I believe that people of “That's not a real thing, right? “I don't believe we've
Critics say that marginalized communities in Like black folks have no achieved racial equity
affirmative this country, because of the institutional power to enact yet. So until we
action is just systemic imbalance, do not have change, or to enact any achieve racial justice,
another power to discriminate over policies that discriminate I don't think that
example of others. I feel like affirmative amongst any group of any ‘reverse
“reverse action is raising our alarm bells, people. It's about equity. discrimination’ can
discrimination. to making our employers create Right? Because black folks really take place in
” What are environments that reflect what we need to be given more the way that people
your views on our country is about. So if you tools, more access, and more are saying it is. If
that? look around your office resources to get us to a we're still looking at
building, or you look in your playing field. That at least colleges, graduation
school building, or you look in gives us a chance to not only rates, jobs after
area, and you see a lot of people succeed, but to thrive and graduation, income
who are white, or have a one propel our future generations. levels and those who
area of area, mean, you have to So that we can catch up, we're remain, we still

14
 be intentional about saying, we playing to 300 years behind haven't maintained
need to make sure our economic development. And racial equity.”
community is representative of when so when folks use the
the world in which they work.” argument of reverse racism,
just simply you shut it down.”

Discussion and Conclusion

The theme throughout the paper gives reasoning as to why colleges/universities still
clearly need affirmative action policies. The increase in bans of these policies are resulting in all
kinds of unfortunate things such as less admission rates for POC, less diversity among campuses,
and so much more. That is why it is very necessary to advocate about these issues so that we can
continue to help the communities of people who are suffering the most. Thankfully when
colleges have affirmative action policies to back them up, they are usually very successful with
“leveling the playing field” which is referring to achieving diversity and equal opportunity in
colleges and universities. Although affirmative comes with its many flaws, research proves that
the universities who have banned affirmative action policies and tried to use new methods to
ensure diversity aren't nearly as successful as those universities who still have affirmative action
policies. Of course, there isn't a problem with testing out new methods to achieve diversity but
until a new method is found that can sustain and improve the diversity in all of different
institutions across the country, affirmative action policies should still be used.

Works Cited

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Carlton, Genevieve. "A History of Affirmative Action in College Admissions." Best Colleges, 10

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Friedersdorf, Conor. "Does Affirmative Action Create Mismatches Between Students and

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debate/420321/. Accessed 6 Jan. 2021.

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Furfaro, Hannah. "To understand structural racism, look to our schools." The Seattle Times, 28

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www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/to-understand-structural-racism-look-to-our-schools

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