My thesis statement...

Question

I am not planning to ritually post snippets of every one of my papers here...I hope so. But I just wanted to post my thesis statement. Once I finish creating my online journal system, then I will post it there. For now, I need some sort of outlet; so, patience folks, I'll be here for quite some time.

Affirmative Action’s attempt to mend the racial disparities in higher education that has plagued America does not constitute to a feasible solution; instead, it forges the same dissented environment that faces the same struggle it tries to eradicate.

Maj · Accepted Answer

I can't wait to see it.

Jacko · Answer

I just finished my essay. I redid a lot of it to try to simplify the language. I am not actually expecting anyone to read it, but if you want to, please do.

Affirmative Action: An Advancement or a Backtrack?

In the summer of 1619, the first Africans were brought to Jamestown, Virginia not to live as free settlers but as subordinate slaves. They worked strenuously for Whites, who considered themselves superior to Africans, without much benefit. Racism is not just the belief that one race is superior to others, but the act of negatively identifying individuals based on the color of their skin. Attributing race to individual character has proven to have negative implications that are difficult to mend. There have been different approaches to rectify the effects of racism dating back even before the Civil War. One of the fruition of these attempts is Affirmative Action, which was initially enforced “to ensure equality in hiring” among minorities. Later, Affirmative Action was amended to include education under its protection. Throughout its duration, however, it has alleviated the racial tension unsubstantially. Affirmative Action’s attempt to halt the racial disparities in higher education that has burdened the African Americans constitutes an inconsequential solution: It forges the same environment suffering the struggle it has been trying to eradicate.

Racism in America has incessantly tried to prevent minorities from advancing in higher education. Prior to the Emancipation Proclamation, laws precluded African slaves from reading and writing. If caught in violation, their White enslavers severely punished the slaves, including the inhumane, coercive wearing of iron muzzle. With laws that shut them in fear and torture and treatment that rendered them helpless, the African slaves aimed hopelessly for educational opportunities that bypassed them. Eventually, education opened its doors to African Americans, but the opening was rather narrow and hesitant. Decades after the Emancipation Proclamation, the discrepancy in offering collegiate opportunities to students remained ignored and almost unchanged. In 1950, the inadequacy became apparent when the “separate but equal” doctrine, a racial policy supporting racial segregation, almost prevented Sweatt, an aspiring law student, from being admitted to University of Texas Law School. A year later, Texas also learned about the sacrifice Linda Brown had to go through everyday. As a result of the “separate but equal” policy, she was forced to walk a mile to get to her Black elementary school even though a White elementary school was just a stone’s throw away from her home. By preventing Linda Brown from grasping the fundamentals necessary to succeed in college, she could suffer the same fate of the thousands of African slaves—staring at education when they should have been immersing themselves in the power it holds.

As the reprehensible image of racism and ineffectiveness of the civil rights law began to surface, the Americans recognized the need for a solution to redress the issue. In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson delineated the concept of Affirmative Action: “you do not take a man who for years have been hobbled by chains, liberate him, bring him to the starting line of a race, saying, ‘you are free to compete with all the others’.” In essence, Affirmative Action was viewed as a tentative remedy to prepare minorities, specifically African Americans, mentally and socially for them to fairly compete in the job marketplace in the future. When it was later enforced to include education, Affirmative Action promised a harbor for educational opportunities impartial of a student’s color. Its positive effect was seen in the increase of minorities enrolled in college institutions. This included the higher rate of 7.5% Black law students in 1995 compare to 1.29% in 1970.

Six scores and 18 years ago, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation that freed African slaves from the ownership of Whites. 53 years ago, the Supreme Court ruling helped Sweatt gain admission to a law school. 52 years ago, the Brown v. Board of Education landmark case initiated the dynamic that would desegregate public schools. And 39 years ago, Lyndon Johnson ordered the implementation of Affirmative Action to level the playing field between minorities and non-minorities. After all those years, is American education now a matured, apolitical institution free from the stench of racial bigotry? The low number of college-enrolled African Americans does not affirm so; nor does the figures in the 2001 and 2002 College-Board Seniors National Report. In the two previous years, African Americans had the lowest average SAT score of 859 and 857, respectively. At status quo, the pedestal needed to advance from is limping.

Today, Affirmative Action breathes out the same hostile air that fails to secure equality in higher education. Originally, it was intended as a temporary tool to help minorities by taking affirmative steps to ensure that they are represented equally. Affirmative Action has increased the diversity of student bodies in universities in the US. The rate of increase, however, does not reflect a leveled playing field as promised by the program when it was first introduced. To further exacerbate the incompetent results, the time span of 39 years was greatly beyond what was anticipated. 39 of which a few years were honest and effective efforts while the rest camouflaged inequality behind its own less conspicuous shadow. Before, racial preference deprived deserving Africans of educational opportunities; now, racial preference deprives deserving Whites of educational opportunities. It sounds redundant, doesn’t it? If in 1950, Sweatt was almost rejected from University of Texas, in 1973 and 1974, Allan Bakke was rejected twice by University of California, even though his scores were higher than the minorities who received admission. Nonetheless, the problem is not who is advantaged or who is disadvantaged: it is why does Affirmative Action permit inequality to propagate if inequality is what it has been trying to eliminate.

It is unacceptable to justify the balance and diversity of a college community to sacrifice equality. A diverse public community, whether educational institution or workplace, is not always parallel to equality. In fact, many universities in the US have shown that diversity can lead to inequality. One of the famous cases is the University of Michigan’s Affirmative Action lawsuit. The Supreme Court ruled that the university’s Affirmative Action policy of providing additional points, which translates to a head start in a race for admission, to minorities violates the equal protection outlined in the Constitution. Nevertheless, the Court also ruled that diversity is a “compelling [government] interest” that it is willing to mount a price on equality. Is it not Lincoln’s death, together with the thousands of Africans who perished in the Civil War in the name of equality, a compelling national interest? What about the ideals of basic rights set out in Magna Carta that guided the framing of the Constitution? The Affirmative Action did, in fact, help the “man who for years have been hobble by chains” to “compete with all the others” at the expense of breaking important rules. For three decades of unsubstantial positive change and occasional trips and falls, Affirmative Action is far from being the lever to raise a multiracial utopia.

Racism in America has existed for more than three centuries, and no history book, scholarly tome, or a text on the subject can ever capture its gruesome image. This disease is ingrained in American society that it takes a huge amount of time to overcome it and subdue its intensity. Still, it can be treated. The treatment, however, must subjugate the disease, not pass it around. Affirmative Action had a good beginning because it served what was needed during its early years. But as time changes, so does the needs of the moment. Now, a considerable part of America has access to education without the iron muzzle of the 18th century and segregation of the 20th century. Thus, education could be the haven that would dramatically help in dealing with racism. But unlike Affirmative Action, the government should not focused on remedying the problem in higher education. Instead, Americans—students, parents, teachers, and all—must share their differences and work on the problem earlier during when most people find their identity and sense of self.

Maj · Answer

You seem to have been working really hard! I think you did a good job!

Jacko · Answer

Well I should thank you, maj, and the two people who read my first draft (this is my fourth draft) and made suggestions. Whew! Honestly, this is the only time I can actually tell myself honestly that I've written something clear and well. My paragraphs are more developed than my previous essays. It might not be as good as other people's essays, but I am improving on my writing, and that's all I care about.

Anonymous · Answer

oh nice

Anonymous · Answer

; can you help me make a good thesis statement on brwon vs. borad of education ?

BarbaraPA · Answer

Anonymous; can you help me make a good thesis statement on brwon vs. borad of education ?

Only if you first tell us what you plan to write about. A thesis statement summarizes what you are going to tell us in your essay. You first have to do your research, form an opinion, have an idea of what you will write and the points you will make, and THEN you can do your thesis statement. You don't have someone else give you a thesis statement and then start writing.

Anonymous · Answer

5 line down second to last paragraph. It should be "to minorities," not ",to minorities violates" Sorry but I always have a fit with bad grammer

LOL

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