Revised 2fer

Accepting or declining students based on background does more to discriminate than it does to level the playing field. It strips individuals of their story, deciding instead to throw everyone in with their own “huddled mass”. It actually creates a tremendous inequality.

“One definition of racism is the idea that "individuals should be treated differently according to their racial designation." Every February, we do exactly that. I'm not saying that we shouldn't honor these individuals, but we should honor the individual, not because of what color he or she happens to have.”

Like Black History Month, intentionally taking from minorities does not put them on a level playing field when it comes to college applications. What it does do is make it easier for people from one minority to get in over people in another. This kind of prejudice is the greatest burden, especially for minorities who hold the “slacker” label. If  an applicant from one of these minorities makes a screw up, they are thrown back to the “masses”. Having the ability to overlook these differences and being able to look at the student purely based on their resume would mean that applicants who worked hard would have a better chance of getting into college, no matter what their background is. One could argue that by not acknowledging their background of the student, you are still discriminating based on who can afford the best education. This is true to a point, but any educational discrimination would still be reflected based on background.

It is important to understand that discrimination is not always bigotry, It comes in many forms. As a society, we can eliminate prejudice by giving everyone the “blank slate”. Being discriminatory is part of human nature, it is how we decide wether or not someone is a threat.