October 3, 2007
Inequality excuses affirmative action
As one of those “misguided liberals” I would like to point out a few flaws in Daniel Shevlin’s letter to the editor (Sept. 25). In the beginning of his letter, Shevlin argues that people should be judged on their personal accomplishments rather than the color of their skin. In most cases, I agree, but when in comes to scholarships and educational opportunities, I think we all need to look at the facts. In a 2006 USA Today article, they stated 47.3% of white high school graduates enroll in college in comparison to 41.1% of black, and 35.3% of Hispanic graduates. While these numbers are increasing, I can only guess that the lagging numbers for minorities has something to do with the numerous inequalities still found in the US. Minorities statistically are lower income and thus have fewer educational opportunities, and we must realize that because some of us are born white, we already have privilege in this country.
This leads us to Shevlin’s question about “privileged gender.” As someone pointed out to me, he is clearly confused about gender versus sex. Gender is how you identify yourself, whereas sex is biological. What Shevlin is trying to understand is the concept of the privileged sex, something that is still quite prevalent, much to Shevlin’s obvious misconceptions. Being accepted into college is much different than being awarded a scholarship, and if he did some research, I think Shevlin would find that many more woman than men have been denied education over the years. And, yes, MLK Jr. had dreams that people would one day be judged by what was on the inside rather than the outside, and that day has sadly not come. I do not see any problems, however, giving those historically underprivileged groups a chance of gaining something white people have always had. Shevlin calls affirmative action “state-sponsored sexism and racism,” but we have to be aware that we do not live in a country that provides equal rights for all, so giving certain people a hand up is not necessarily a bad thing.
Lastly, what makes me wonder, Mr. Shevlin, is how you dare to dismiss the inequalities that are so blatant in the U.S. today. There are horrible things that happen all over the world, but that in no way makes our social inequalities less important. I think the only person misguided, Mr. Shevlin, is you.
Emily Wolner
Senior, Social Work
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