affirmative action essay conclusion

Essay on Affirmative Action

The affirmative action emerged in response to the persisting inequality in the US society and attempted to close gaps between people that would help to prevent tension and confrontation between the privileged mainstream social group and discriminated groups, which consisted of low-income employees, minorities, and female employees.

Historically, the affirmative action in the US was started by the US government and legislators and the growing public pressure and emerging social problems. The National Labor Relations Act also known as Wagner Act of 1935 was the first major legal act that has launched the affirmative action in the US. The Wagner Act aimed at low-income groups mainly and provided employees with the right to unionize without fear of being discriminated by employers. The development of FDR New Deal programs contained equal opportunity clauses that also contributed to the enhancement of the affirmative action policies in the US.

Truman issued the Executive Order 9808 that established the President’s Committee on Civil Rights, which examined cases of violence and provided legal recommendations to prevent violence and discrimination.

At the same time, the affirmative action policies aimed at specific industries. At this point, it is possible to refer to Nixon’s Philadelphia Order of 1969, which was the most forceful plan to guarantee fair employment practices in construction jobs.

The affirmative action has a considerable social influence since it focuses on the inclusion of minority or discriminated groups and provides them with equal rights and opportunities facilitating their inclusion and integration into the workplace environment. The creation of equal employment opportunities contributes to the elimination of social differences and the society becomes less diverse and socioeconomic disparities become less striking.

The group dynamics was, to a certain extent, one of the drivers of the affirmative action because different social and racial groups have a different group dynamics. What is meant here is the fact that some social groups progressed faster and enhanced their socioeconomic standing, while others stumbled and lived in poverty. The affirmative action aimed at closing the gap not only between these groups but also and mainly between the groups’ dynamics. In such a way, the affirmative action sped up the development of low-income or discriminated groups to help them to catch up with the mainstream group dynamics.

The affirmative action has influenced substantially interpersonal relations between employees because employees from minority groups, for instance, African Americans, suffered discrimination in the workplace environment and had worse job opportunities compared to employees representing the mainstream culture. As a result, interpersonal relations between employees representing minority and mainstream groups were quite tensed. The affirmative action has eased the tension because it has contributed to the decrease of the difference and provided them with equal rights and opportunities. The equal position of all employees contributes to the improvement of their interpersonal relations because, having equal rights and opportunities, they view each other as equals.

However, the implementation of the affirmative action faced several challenges, among which deep-rooted biases and prejudices have proved to be the most significant challenges. In this regard, it is worth mentioning the fact that white employees often opposed to the affirmative action which granted non-white employees new job opportunities, thus, enhancing the competition between white and non-white employees.

The affirmative action was also viewed as the violation of human rights and contradicted to the traditional American culture and lifestyle because Americans traditionally believed the career of an individual to be a private matter and the government should not interfere into the regulation of the labor relations creating better employment opportunities for certain groups to close gaps between those groups and other employees, for example.

Law enforcement agencies also confronted substantial challenges since regulatory functions also required professionals working in law enforcement agencies to overcome their biases and prejudices. As a result, they faced the problem of the adequate execution of legal norms that enhance the affirmative action.

In addition, the affirmative action still failed to close the gap between the rich and the poor because of the historical difference in the development of the mainstream group and discriminated groups. For instance, representatives of African American and other non-white communities historically had the limited access to education that deprived them of better job opportunities even after the introduction of legal acts in terms of the affirmative action policies. As a result, in spite of the affirmative action the inequality between employees persisted.

At the same time, researchers (Greenberg, 2003) state that the affirmative action was an essential step to close gaps and prevent the further aggravation of the situation in the US. If the problem of persisting inequality has remained unresolved and the affirmative action has never been introduced, the US could have confronted the large scale social conflict and riots that could have outgrown into a new civil war. Furthermore, researchers (Hastings, 2006) are reasonable in their arguments that the affirmative action confronted the opposition from the large part of the US society because the majority viewed the affirmative action as the threat to their position. In addition, researchers (Hamby, 2001) point out that the affirmative action contributed to the enhancement of the employment legislation and tighter regulation of the employment relations which protected employees from discrimination.

On the other hand, some researchers (Hastings, 2006) argue that the affirmative action created the ground for protectionist policies conducted by the state. However, such argument is questionable in light of the long-lasting discrimination of minority groups. Also, researchers (Greenberg, 2003) argue that the affirmative action contradicts to the US democratic norms. But the discrimination of certain groups also contradicts to democratic norms and principles. Therefore, the affirmative action is fair practice. In addition, researchers (Hastings, 2006) argue that the affirmative action led to the overregulation of the employment relations. However, the affirmative action also contributed to the better self-organization of employees and their unionization that does not involve the excessive regulation from the part of the state.

The affirmative action should not be just the matter of the government policy but it is also the matter of each individual. People should accept the affirmative action as the essential step to prevent social injustice. In addition, people should support the affirmative action maintaining fair practices in the field of employment. Such policies should be supported by the criminal justice system which should prosecute organizations and individuals violating principles of equality. Moreover, the criminal justice system should implement the principle of affirmative action within law enforcement agencies and courts to prevent further cases of discrimination.

Thus, the affirmative action was and still is an essential policy to eliminate inequality and prejudiced attitude to certain social groups from the part of the mainstream group.

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Essays on Affirmative Action

Writing an essay on Affirmative Action is important because it is a complex and controversial topic that has a significant impact on our society. Affirmative Action policies are designed to address historical discrimination and promote diversity, but they also raise questions about fairness and meritocracy. By writing an essay on this subject, you can contribute to the ongoing conversation about how to create a more just and equitable society.

When writing an essay on Affirmative Action, it is important to consider multiple perspectives and present a balanced argument. This means acknowledging the valid concerns of those who oppose Affirmative Action while also highlighting the ways in which it has been successful in promoting diversity and addressing inequality. Additionally, it is important to support your arguments with evidence and examples, such as case studies or statistics that demonstrate the impact of Affirmative Action policies.

Furthermore, you should also consider the historical context of Affirmative Action and how it has evolved over time. This can help provide a deeper understanding of the rationale behind these policies and the ways in which they have been implemented and challenged. By grounding your essay in historical and legal context, you can provide a more comprehensive analysis of the topic.

Finally, it is important to consider the real-world implications of Affirmative Action policies. This might involve discussing the experiences of individuals who have benefited from these policies, as well as those who have been adversely affected by them. By including personal narratives and case studies, you can bring a human element to your essay and demonstrate the tangible effects of Affirmative Action.

In conclusion, writing an essay on Affirmative Action is important because it allows you to engage with a complex and significant social issue. By presenting a well-researched and balanced argument, considering historical context, and addressing real-world implications, you can contribute to a meaningful discussion about how to create a more just and equitable society.

What Makes a Good Affirmative Action essay topic

When it comes to choosing a topic for an Affirmative Action essay, it's important to select a subject that is both relevant and thought-provoking. To brainstorm and choose an essay topic, consider exploring current events, historical perspectives, social justice issues, and the impact of Affirmative Action policies. A good essay topic should be specific, debatable, and offer a unique angle or perspective. It should also be well-researched and provide an opportunity for critical analysis and discussion.

Best Affirmative Action Essay Topics

The effectiveness of Affirmative Action in promoting diversity in the workplace
The impact of Affirmative Action on college admissions
The role of Affirmative Action in addressing systemic racism
Affirmative Action and its impact on gender equality
The history and evolution of Affirmative Action policies
Affirmative Action and its impact on small businesses
The ethical implications of Affirmative Action
Affirmative Action and its effects on marginalized communities
The future of Affirmative Action in a changing society
Affirmative Action and the concept of meritocracy
The role of Affirmative Action in addressing income inequality
Affirmative Action and its impact on academic achievement
The impact of Affirmative Action on corporate diversity initiatives
Affirmative Action and its impact on public sector employment
The intersection of Affirmative Action and immigration policies
Affirmative Action and its impact on the criminal justice system
The role of Affirmative Action in addressing healthcare disparities
Affirmative Action and its impact on access to education
The legal and constitutional implications of Affirmative Action
Affirmative Action and its impact on political representation

Affirmative Action Essay Topics Prompts

Imagine a world without Affirmative Action. How would society be different?
Write a persuasive essay arguing for or against the use of Affirmative Action in college admissions.
Create a timeline of key events and milestones in the history of Affirmative Action.
Interview someone who has been directly affected by Affirmative Action policies and share their story in an essay.
Write a speculative essay on the future of Affirmative Action and its potential impact on society.

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An Examination of The Supporters and Opponents of Affirmative Action

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Arguments for and against Affirmative action Essay

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Introduction

Analysis of the paragraphs, works cited.

The aim of affirmative action is to ensure that distribution of resources is done in appropriate and considerable manner that includes every person from diverse racial and ethnic background.

Those in support for affirmative action argues that there are certain groups of people who have been previously discriminated against and this gives them difficulties to compete equally within the society with those from dominant groups occupying most resourceful sectors within the nation. The intention is to administer equality amongst all citizens (Martindale 1-2).

Affirmative action can be defined as a policy that aims at providing advantages or opportunities to people forming minority group against whom have been traditionally discriminated. The discrimination can be against access to social facilities and other resources such as education and health care (Martindale 1-2).

The argument in the case where affirmative action is considered to allow for fair evaluation of candidates is well used as a preferential treatment. The implementation of race-based affirmative action drives towards the general improvement of the society since it creates good social set-ups for children as well as adults.

The diversity that exists within the schools gives opportunities for the improvement of learning since students get the chance of exposing themselves to diverse ideas which ultimately challenge them to seek for more knowledge (Martindale 1-2).

The case of diverse student body could be supported by the fact that United States is diverse in ethnicity and race as compared to other nations. Hence very crucial to ensure that there is free interaction amongst the groups and clear understanding that leads to creation of strong nation. According to analysis this point of view presents one of the strongest arguments in support for affirmative action (Martindale 1-2).

The application of affirmative action in ensuring that all the ethnic groups are presented may at times place the minorities in situations which are above them hence they are most likely to fail. This encourages fear amongst the minority and may cause them not to utilize their full potential. In this case affirmative action tends to conflict the idea that the most qualified applicant should always be given priority when it comes to selection.

It is always good at times to use conventional qualification measurement other than criteria to create adequate distribution of resources and admissions. It is at times intrinsically wrong to use race on making decisions concerning some situations (Martindale 1-2).

Affirmative action focuses majorly on race which is considered as one of the aspects of diversity. This case on judging applicants outside their merits do not consider intellectual diversity but rather focuses only on creation of racial diversity which also do not support diversity of opinions. This makes the argument appear to be strong against affirmative action (Martindale 1-2).

The argument that affirmative action do not lead to true diversity sounds weak. This is since the emergence of affirmative action led to social awareness within the society and also led to institution of anti-discrimination laws which made race be of less concern compared to social class. The idea of class could best be used to address the issues of disadvantages which could ultimately be used towards promoting equality. Hence the use of class-based affirmative action could well be used to help in the creation of racial diversity (Martindale 1-2).

What is referred to us class based affirmative action is preferred since it creates less stigma on persons. This is because it proves very difficult to identify a person’s class than his race or ethnic background. The goal for affirmative action should be to de-racialinize the society.

This could be achieved through improving the economic status of every race and also including them in top occupations. This would assist in getting rid of the idea on discrimination based on skin color, because an increase in the number of blacks in top prestigious positions of power, would lead to decline in the cases of racial identification. It becomes a reality since the gap between color and social class would have been narrowed down (Martindale 1-2).

Attempts to reach the goal of diminishing cases on racial discrimination could be hindered by the occurrences of some negative side-effects brought by different ways in which people view the policy. The issue may at times result in additional stigmatization imposed on those who are considered beneficiaries of affirmative action programs.

The affirmative action at the universities has been found of benefit to blacks unlike other minority races like Asian Americans who happen to be minority in population though quite a number in the Universities and colleges (Martindale 1-2).

Martindale, Gayla. Arguments For and Against Affirmative Action. U.S. University Directory 2010. Web.

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Essay on affirmative action.

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Affirmative action is one of the most controversial and important social policy decisions adopted by the United States in the past decades. It has been and will continue to be a popular subject for opinion writing and research papers alike. Though initially employed to help address decades and centuries of economic, political, and legal subjugation of non-white Americans, affirmative action is a long-since outlived policy choice that is no longer applicable in the modern world. Indeed, affirmative action clearly causes increasing amounts of racial diversity issues and is hardly a recipe for achieving proper diversity in modern social roles. This sample essay demonstrates some of the many essay writing services Ultius offers.

Affirmative Action

One of the classic ‘quick-fixes’ in latter part of the twentieth century in the United States was affirmative action. Originally created to correct for generations of racial prejudices, there was a time when affirmative action was the only hope for non-white Americans to find a place in certain educational institutions or employment fields. Whatever use it once served, however, has been long-since outlived. Affirmative action has become the kind of regulation that only limits the flexibility of the system. In many ways, it has actually created diversity issues similar to those it was intended to correct, but for the white students or workers who do not fall into its scope of interest. The social conditions that created a need for affirmative action are gone and they have been replaced by a new set of problems that needs a different solution. Affirmative action should be replaced with a program that does not simply aim to ‘even the playing field’ based on one’s racial or ethnic background. Rather it should be a system that inspires and helps those that are from a less fortunate background by giving those that have shown the willingness to succeed an equal opportunity to perform.

A Temporary Measure?

Affirmative action was a program that was implemented in the early 1960’s to combat racial inequality. President Kennedy first coined the term in 1961 as:

“a method of redressing discrimination that had persisted in spite of civil rights laws and constitutional guarantees,” (Brunner).

President Johnson first enforced the program itself hailing it as the next step in the ongoing civil rights campaign . The program focuses primarily on education and jobs. The major polices of affirmative action require that companies provide equal opportunities for minority workers to have access to:

“promotions, salary increases, career advancement, school admissions, scholarships, and financial aid,” (Brunner).

Before the installation of this program, whites almost exclusively enjoyed these sorts of privileges, and the majority of those were males. However, it should be noted that right from the onset of the program, affirmative action was seen as only a temporary measure. It was built with the aim to create a ‘level playing field’ for every American and was never intended to last as long as it has. Since its original incorporation into an enforced act, affirmative action has seen many changes and has constantly been the focal point for conversation both in the positive and negative sense. As time has progressed, the question of the necessity of affirmative action has repeatedly come up.

Does this temporary program still have a place in modern society?

Affirmative action was once necessary and effective. It was implemented in 1965 and over the course of two decades was shown to improve opportunities for women and minorities in most cases (Leonard 440). At its inception it was controversial and unwelcome, but its effects could not be denied. As of a study conducted in 1984:

“affirmative action has increased the demand relative to white males for black males by 6.5%, for nonblack minority males by 11.9%, and for white females by 3.5%. Among females, it has increased the demand for blacks relative to whites by 11.0%” (Leonard 459).

This study was conducted over the course of six years, from 1974 to 1980, and shows clear improvement in workplace diversity.

Eliminating Stereotypes

One of the other major aims of affirmative action, initially, was to:

“eliminate employers’ negative stereotypes about the capabilities of minority workers,” (Coate 1238).

By creating a program that ensured the hiring of a certain number of minority workers , employers would be able to see that a different worker, not a white male, could complete tasks just as efficiently and effectively as their coworkers. Additionally, this program was placed under the with the hopes of eliminating worker discrimination and the negative stereotypes seen between races that work together. The study found:

“there are circumstances under which affirmative action will necessarily eliminate negative stereotypes,” (Coate 1239).

This provides evidence that the system worked when it was first implemented. At the time of Leonard’s study, there was a need for some balancing force from the government that could overrule the social prejudices that persisted from previous decades. However, the key social issue that made affirmative action necessary has changed. While no one could claim that racial prejudice is gone, it is also not as simple as it once was and racial stereotypes are now even further propagated by the media .

An outdated "solution"

The places where affirmative action once helped, it is largely no longer necessary. Truly, competitive institutions of business and education have to tap whatever talent pool is available. There are also statistics to suggest that white males have actually become a minority in the work force, making a policy that excludes their opportunities harmful to genuine equality (Thomas, Jr. 107). If this trend proceeds unchecked, before long affirmative action will have to include white males as well and simply become a comprehensive government regulation for education and workplace demographics. According to the information provided by Thomas Jr.:

“more than half the US work force now consists of minorities, immigrants, and women,” (Thomas, Jr. 107).

Though he notes that white males born within the United States are still the dominant force in terms of the high power positions within the workplace, they are, statistically speaking, a minority. Based on the current trends, white males will only make up 15 percent of the increased work force over the next 10 years if figures hold the same as projected (Thomas, Jr. 107). This will literally reverse the effects the affirmative action was trying to prevent in the first place.

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Affirmative action as a cause of prejudice

Even worse than its misdirection in modern times, is the evidence that affirmative action is actually harmful to equality . While the policy does force employers and educators to accept minorities, it has become such a fixture and such a rigid mandate that those minorities are often seen as inferior in their positions simply because they were entitled to that position (Coate 1239). This kind of prejudice cannot be regulated away and is the kind of social prejudice that actually creates diversity gaps. The only thing a policy can do is limit the ways prejudice manifests itself in official situations. To truly correct the issue of ethnic and gender inequality, it has to be addressed at the fundamental level.

Post-1980s affirmative action

Since affirmative action was first proven effective in the 1980s, conditions have changed. It is now necessary to consider merit instead of simple statistical qualities (Sturm 1035). Prejudice is no longer simply a matter of socioeconomic status or gender or ethnicity and the only way left to rise above social prejudices is through attention to individual value, rather than group identification (Sidanius 488). It might be easier to hope that affirmative action is still valid and effective, but social conditions change over time and a new tactic needs to be considered for addressing the issues that actually account for prejudice in the modern age, rather than the symptom of decades past. As noted in the findings of Coate and Loury:

“there are equally plausible circumstance under which (affirmative action) will not only fail to eliminate stereotypes, but may worsen them,” (Coate 1239).

This can be especially true in an economic situation that currently faces the nation. Presently, finding employment is very difficult for almost everyone in the country as job growth continues to diminish . The influence that affirmative action has on the hiring process can, even if unwarranted, lead to hostile feelings and tension between races. Individuals that do not secure a job could blame the minorities that have jobs at a company because they received aid from a government program. Individuals that claim this will usually also state that affirmative action will overlook a better-suited white worker to hire a minority worker in his place. Regardless of whether this claim is true, the mere existence of a program like affirmative action can create an environment of hostility and tension for minority workers even if they are the most qualified for the job. In fact, the system in place can create an atmosphere where regardless of the skill set of a minority worker, they will be underappreciated and have their skills downplayed because of the rationale that they were hired simply because they belong to a minority.

Non-white Women and Minorities and Affirmative Action

Leonard states:

“affirmative action ha actually been successful in promoting the employment of minorities and females, though less so in the case of white females,” (Leonard 459)

in his study published in 1984. The statistical information provided from his study backs this statement, however the interesting aspect that he raises is the incorporation of the scrutiny that the program had to endure. He notes the affirmative action has:

“generated tremendous public criticism and resistance,” and “undergone frequent regulatory reorganization,” (Leonard 459).

It is interesting to note that he includes that the program has undergone “frequent regulatory reorganization.” In modern times, it would appear that another period of such reorganization is due for the affirmative action program. Generally, the racially discriminative practices that were once common occurrences during the early to mid 20th century have subsided, yet research shows a type of "reverse discrimination" that has been the result. Society has moved more and more towards a world where the practices that the program is trying to defend against are becoming obsolete. This is not to claim that racism, as a whole is not an issue, however it is becoming, in some cases, almost an issue in the reverse of what was originally intended from the implication of affirmative action. The program now almost creates an opposite effect.

A different perspective on affirmative action

Instead of continuing the practices that affirmative action has laid out for minorities--both men and women, the system should be looked at from the interior workings of companies. It is no longer as prevalent of an issue of getting the minority workers into entry-level positions within a company and the history of affirmative action in education demonstrates the need for restructuring. The issue presents itself with their promotion and advancement once they have secured employment (Thomas, Jr. 107). As suggested by Sturm, affirmative action could be reconstructed so that it can observe what an individual can do and take into consideration their “capacity to perform,” (Sturm 1035). By reconstructing the system, affirmative action can:

“reclaim the historical relationship between racial justice and the revitalization of institutions to benefit everyone,” (Sturm 1036).

While this is still not the ideal solution to the iniquities which accompany affirmative action, it is a definite step in the right direction.

A "Quick Fix" Culture

The issue of affirmative action can be applied to a larger issue for the nation as a whole, namely:

Has the United States become a nation that adapts the “quick fix” culture?

When calling something a “quick fix,” it is implied that a real solution to a large issue is not thoroughly put into place. Instead, a solution that will either cover up the problem or keep it from becoming larger is created and replaced as needed over time. Some of the major reasons for these so-called “quick fixes” include:

General laziness
Lack of empathy from the general population

This is exactly what is seen with the issue of affirmative action. When it was first implemented in America, the issue of racial discrimination , as well as gender discrimination, was a large issue in the world of both employment and academics. However, instead of combating the problem and making fundamental changes to the way that society deals with and views race and gender, the United States was forced to implement a program that forced those that may discriminate in their choosing process to have a certain number of openings be filled by minorities.

An outdated program

As noted, when first implemented this system was not only needed but successful, however as it becomes more and more clear that the program has become outdated and needs either a major overhaul or to be shut down. The factors of lack of public empathy and general laziness have reemerged and slowed the progression to a unified solution. This has almost set the table, in a manner of speaking, for America to provide its next ‘quick-fix’ to the problem to continue to avoid looking deeper into the issue and truly attempt to solve the problem as a whole. Affirmative action did its job effectively and admirably, however society has shifted since it was first put into effect. This program has served its purpose and should be allowed to be retired with dignity knowing that it helped many minorities take the first step towards equality, especially during times when racism was a much larger issue that permeated into many different facets of everyday life.

Necessary changes

To combat some of the issues that currently face affirmative action, there could be some changes that make it more of an all-encompassing program:

Instead of only offering aid to those that have a common racial or ethnic background, the program could be used as a tool to help all of those that have come from a challenged background.
By making a program that, for example, would look to equally admit or hire an individual from a poor family, some of the racial tension that accompanies affirmative action could be dispersed.
A revamped affirmative action could transcend divisions and help all individuals that need aid to have their own chance at achieving the American dream eliminating the feeling that a minority candidate only obtained the place that they were because of a program specifically aimed to help out racial and ethnic minorities.

Since there are initiatives and programs that already do a job similar to these, they could merge with affirmative action and form a larger, more powerful means to help those that have risen from a troubled upbringing. The US needs to look at a true solution and not merely provide a system for ‘getting the foot in the door’ for minorities. Case studies in various workplace scenarios have proven the relative ineffectiveness and unexpected results of the program. A new system that addresses the issues that are more prevalent to today such as equal opportunity for advancement of a career should be investigated.

Affirmative action once made sense, but today needs to be reconsidered. This fact stands as evidence of the tangible outcomes to be had from the study of sociology . Social inequality no longer requires the dramatic oversight it once did. More attention needs to be paid to qualitative factors than simple quantitative values that are based on an archaic metric. A system should be in place where an individual’s performance is critical and racial, ethnic and gender discrimination will no longer be a factor. Unfortunately, with the system that is in place in the modern era, this is not being addressed. Even if affirmative action could still work, it would need to be more sophisticated and consider more variables than simple gender or ethnicity. These factors would have to be adjusted for demographics in whatever area they are being applied, making it a monumental challenge. Instead of providing another means of a ‘quick-fix’ to the issue at large, the nation should take the longer, more difficult route to social equality.

Works Cited

Brunner, Borgna. "Affirmative Action History." info please. 2007: n. page. Web. 5 Dec. 2012. <http://www.infoplease.com/spot/affirmative1.html>.

Coate, Stephen, and Glenn C. Loury. "Will Affirmative-Action Policies Eliminate Negative Stereotypes." The American Economic Review 83.5 (1993): 1220-1240. Print.

Leonard, Jonathan S.. "The Impact of Affirmative Action on Employment." Journal of Labor Economics 2.4 (1984): 439-463. Print.

Sidanius, Jim, Felicia Pratto, and Lawrence Bobo. "Racism, Conservatism, Affirmative Action, and Intellectual Sophistication: A Matter of Principled Conservatism or Group Dominance?" Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 70.3 (1996): 476-490. Print.

Sturm, Susan, and Lani Guinier. "The Future of Affirmative Action: Reclaiming the Innovative Ideal." California Law Review 84.3 (1996): 953-1036. Print.

Thomas, Jr., R. Roosevelt. "From Affirmative Action to Affirming Diversity." Harvard Business Review (1990): 107-117. Print.

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13 Conclusion

Published: April 2020
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The brief final chapter does three things: (1) it summarizes the content of the book; (2) it sets out four of its main claims; and (3) it ends with some remarks about real-life affirmative action schemes mentioned in earlier chapters. Roughly, the pertinent four main claims of the book are (1) the cautious pro-affirmative action claim—that affirmative action is justified to the extent that it mitigates discrimination or reduces inequality of opportunity; (2) the plurality claim—that affirmative action schemes differ hugely in justification-relevant ways; (3) the contingency claim—that the justifiability of any particular affirmative action scheme depends significantly on contingent social facts; (4) and the incongruence claims—that the principle underlying different arguments for (or objections against) affirmative action often pull in different directions.

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How to Talk About Race on College Applications, According to Admissions Experts

A proponent of affirmative action signs a shirt during a protest at Harvard University

R afael Figueroa, dean of college guidance at Albuquerque Academy, was in the middle of tutoring Native American and Native Hawaiian students on how to write college application essays when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the race-conscious college admissions processes at Harvard and the University of North Carolina are unconstitutional .

Earlier in the week, he told the students that they shouldn’t feel like they need to talk about their ethnicity in their essays. But after the June 29 Supreme Court ruling , he backtracked. “If I told you that you didn’t have to write about your native or cultural identity, you need to get ready to do another supplemental essay” on it or prepare a story that can fit into short answer questions, he says he told them.

For high school seniors of color applying to colleges in the coming years, the essay and short answer sections will take on newfound importance. Chief Justice John Roberts suggested as much when he wrote in his majority opinion, “Nothing in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration or otherwise.” That “discussion” is usually in an essay, and many colleges have additional short-answer questions that allow students to expand more on their background and where they grew up.

“The essay is going to take up a lot more space than maybe it has in the past because people are going to be really trying to understand who this person is that is going to come into our community,” says Timothy Fields, senior associate dean of undergraduate admission at Emory University.

Now, college admissions officers are trying to figure out how to advise high schoolers on their application materials to give them the best chance to showcase their background under the new rules, which will no longer allow colleges or universities to use race as an explicit factor in admissions decisions .

Shereem Herndon-Brown, who co-wrote The Black Family’s Guide to College Admissions with Fields, says students of color can convey their racial and ethnic backgrounds by writing about their families and their upbringing. “I’ve worked with students for years who have written amazing essays about how they spend Yom Kippur with their family, which clearly signals to a college that they are Jewish—how they listened to the conversations from their grandfather about escaping parts of Europe… Their international or immigrant story comes through whether it’s from the Holocaust or Croatia or the Ukraine. These are stories that kind of smack colleges in the face about culture.”

“Right now, we’re asking Black and brown kids to smack colleges in the face about being Black and brown,” he continues. “And, admittedly, I am mixed about the necessity to do it. But I think the only way to do it is through writing.”

Read More: The ‘Infamous 96’ Know Firsthand What Happens When Affirmative Action Is Banned

Students of color who are involved in extracurriculars that are related to diversity efforts should talk about those prominently in their college essays, other experts say. Maude Bond, director of college counseling at Cate School in Santa Barbara County, California, cites one recent applicant she counseled who wrote her college essay about an internship with an anti-racism group and how it helped her highlight the experiences of Asian American Pacific Islanders in the area.

Bond also says there are plenty of ways for people of color to emphasize their resilience and describe the character traits they learned from overcoming adversity: “Living in a society where you’re navigating racism every day makes you very compassionate.” she says. “It gives you a different sense of empathy and understanding. Not having the same resources as people that you grow up with makes you more creative and innovative.” These, she argues, are characteristics students should highlight in their personal essays.

Adam Nguyen, a former Columbia University admissions officer who now counsels college applicants via his firm Ivy Link, will also encourage students of color to ask their teachers and college guidance counselors to hint at their race or ethnicity in their recommendation letters. “That’s where they could talk about your racial background,” Nguyen says. “Just because you can’t see what’s written doesn’t mean you can’t influence how or what is said about you.”

Yet as the essay portions of college applications gain more importance, the process of reading applications will take a lot longer, raising the question of whether college admissions offices have enough staffers to get through the applications. “There are not enough admission officers in the industry to read that way,” says Michael Pina, director of admission at the University of Richmond.

That could make it even more difficult for students to get the individual attention required to gain acceptance to the most elite colleges. Multiple college admissions experts say college-bound students will need to apply to a broader range of schools. “You should still apply to those 1% of colleges…but you should think about the places that are producing high-quality graduates that are less selective,” says Pina.

One thing more Black students should consider, Fields argues, is applying to historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). (In fact, Fields, a graduate of Morehouse College, claims that may now be “necessary” for some students.) “There’s something to be said, for a Black person to be in a majority environment someplace that they are celebrated, not tolerated,” Fields says. “There’s something to be said about being in an environment where you don’t have to justify why you’re here.”

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Write to Olivia B. Waxman at [email protected]

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Maxwell, C., & Garcia, S. (2020, June 18). 5 Reasons to Support Affirmative Action in College Admissions. Retrieved from https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/news/2019/10/01/471085/5-reasons-support-affirmative-action-college-admissions/
Bloomenthal, A. (2020, February 05). What Affirmative Action Means for Businesses. Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/021215/guide-affirmative-action-and-business.asp
Minitrez, H. (2020, June 27). Elimination of DA Photo, Race, Ethnicity & Gender Info From Soldier Records. Retrieved from https://www.army.mil/article/236851/elimination_of_da_photo_race_ethnicity_gender_info_from_soldier_records

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A year after affirmative action ban, how students are pitching themselves to colleges

Deep Read ( 13 Min. )
By Olivia Sanchez, Nirvi Shah, and Meredith Kolodner The Hechinger Report

June 28, 2024

In the year since the U.S. Supreme Court banned the consideration of race in college admissions, students have had to give more thought to how they present themselves in their application essays – to what they will disclose.

Data from the Common Application shows that in this admissions cycle, about 12% of students from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups used at least one of 38 identity-related phrases in their essays, a decrease of roughly 1% from the previous year. The data shows that about 20% of American Indian and Alaskan Native applicants used one of these phrases; meanwhile 15% of Asian students, 14% of Black students, 11% of Latinx students, and fewer than 3% of white students did so.

Why We Wrote This

A year ago, the U.S. Supreme Court barred affirmative action in college admissions. Students have since used their application essays as a place to explore identity.

To better understand how students were deciding what to include, The Hechinger Report asked newly accepted students from across the United States to share their application essays and to describe how they thought their writing choices ultimately influenced their admissions outcomes. Among them was Jaleel Gomes Cardoso from Boston, who wrote about being Black.

“If you’re not going to see what my race is in my application, then I’m definitely putting it in my writing,” he says, “because you have to know that this is the person who I am.”

In the year since the Supreme Court banned the consideration of race in college admissions last June, students have had to give more thought to how they present themselves in their application essays .

Previously, they could write about their racial or ethnic identity if they wanted to, but colleges would usually know it either way and could use it as a factor in admissions. Now, it’s entirely up to students to disclose their identity or not.

Data from the Common Application shows that in this admissions cycle about 12% of students from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups used at least one of 38 identity-related phrases in their essays, a decrease of roughly 1% from the previous year. The data shows that about 20% of American Indian and Alaskan Native applicants used one of these phrases; meanwhile 15% of Asian students, 14% of Black students, 11% of Latinx students, and fewer than 3% of white students did so.

To better understand how students were making this decision and introducing themselves to colleges, The Hechinger Report asked newly accepted students from across the country to share their college application essays. The Hechinger staff read more than 50 essays and talked to many students about their writing process, who gave them advice, and how they think their choices ultimately influenced their admissions outcomes.

Here are thoughts from a sampling of those students, with excerpts from their essays.

Jaleel Gomes Cardoso of Boston: A risky decision

As Jaleel Gomes Cardoso sat looking at the essay prompt for Yale University, he wasn’t sure how honest he should be. “Reflect on your membership in a community to which you feel connected,” it read. “Why is this community meaningful to you?” He wanted to write about being part of the Black community – it was the obvious choice – but the Supreme Court’s decision to ban the consideration of a student’s race in admissions gave him pause.

“Ever since the decision about affirmative action, it kind of worried me about talking about race,” says Mr. Cardoso, who grew up in Boston. “That entire topic felt like a risky decision.”

In the past, he had always felt that taking a risk produced some of his best writing, but he thought that an entire essay about being Black might be going too far.

“The risk was just so heavy on the topic of race when the Court’s decision was to not take race into account,” he says. “It was as if I was disregarding that decision. It felt very controversial, just to make it so out in the open.”

In the end, he did write an essay that put his racial identity front and center. He wasn’t accepted to Yale, but he has no regrets about his choice.

“If you’re not going to see what my race is in my application, then I’m definitely putting it in my writing,” says Mr. Cardoso, who will attend Dartmouth College this fall, “because you have to know that this is the person who I am.”

– Meredith Kolodner

Essay excerpt:

I was thrust into a narrative of indifference and insignificance from the moment I entered this world. I was labeled as black, which placed me in the margins of society. It seemed that my destiny had been predetermined; to be part of a minority group constantly oppressed under the weight of a social construct called race. Blackness became my life, an identity I initially battled against. I knew others viewed it as a flaw that tainted their perception of me. As I matured, I realized that being different was not easy, but it was what I loved most about myself.

Klaryssa Cobian of Los Angeles: A seminomadic mattress life

Klaryssa Cobian is Latina – a first-generation Mexican American – and so was nearly everyone else in the Southeast Los Angeles community where she grew up. Because that world was so homogenous, she really didn’t notice her race until she was a teenager.

Then she earned a scholarship to a prestigious private high school in Pasadena. For the first time, she was meaningfully interacting with people of other races and ethnicities, but she felt the greatest gulf between her and her peers came from her socioeconomic status, not the color of her skin.

Although Ms. Cobian has generally tried to keep her home life private, she felt that colleges needed to understand the way her family’s severe economic disadvantages had affected her. She wrote about how she’d long been “desperate to feel at home.”

She was 16 years old before she had a mattress of her own. Her essay cataloged all the places she lay her head before that. She wrote about her first bed, a queen-sized mattress shared with her parents and younger sister. She wrote about sleeping in the backseat of her mother’s red Mustang, before they lost the car. She wrote about moving into her grandparents’ home and sharing a mattress on the floor with her sister, in the same room as two uncles. She wrote about the great independence she felt when she “moved out” into the living room and onto the couch.

“Which mattress I sleep on has defined my life, my independence, my dependence,” Ms. Cobian wrote.

She’d initially considered writing about the ways she felt she’d had to sacrifice her Latino culture and identity to pursue her education, but said she hesitated after the Supreme Court ruled on the use of affirmative action in admissions. Ultimately, she decided that her experience of poverty was more pertinent.

“If I’m in a room of people, it’s like, I can talk to other Latinos, and I can talk to other brown people, but that does not mean I’m going to connect with them. Because, I learned, brown people can be rich,” Ms. Cobian says. She’s headed to the University of California, Berkeley, in the fall.

– Olivia Sanchez

Essay excerpt:

With the only income, my mom automatically assumed custody of me and my younger sister, Alyssa. With no mattress and no home, the backseat of my mom’s red mustang became my new mattress. Bob Marley blasted from her red convertible as we sang out “could you be loved” every day on our ride back from elementary school. Eventually, we lost the mustang too and would take the bus home from Downtown Los Angeles, still singing “could you be loved” to each other.

Oluwademilade Egunjobi of Providence, Rhode Island: The perfect introduction

Oluwademilade Egunjobi worked on her college essay from June until November. Not every single day, and not on only one version, but for five months she was writing and editing and asking anyone who would listen for advice.

She considered submitting essays about the value of sex education, or the philosophical theory of solipsism (in which the only thing that is guaranteed to exist is your own mind).

But most of the advice she got was to write about her identity. So, to introduce herself to colleges, Oluwademilade Egunjobi wrote about her name.

Ms. Egunjobi is the daughter of Nigerian immigrants who, she wrote, chose her first name because it means she’s been crowned by God. In naming her, she said, her parents prioritized pride in their heritage over ease of pronunciation for people outside their culture.

And although Ms. Egunjobi loves that she will always be connected to her culture, this choice has put her in a lifelong loop of exasperating introductions and questions from non-Nigerians about her name.

The loop often ends when the person asks if they can call her by her nickname, Demi. “I smile through my irritation and say I prefer it anyways, and then the situation repeats time and time again,” Egunjobi wrote.

She was nervous when she learned about the Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision, wondering what it might mean for where she would get into college. Her teachers and college advisors from a program called Matriculate told her she didn’t have to write a sob story, but that she should write about her identity, how it affects the way she moves through the world and the resilience it’s taught her.

She heeded their advice, and it worked out. In the fall, she will enter the University of Pennsylvania to study philosophy, politics, and economics.

I don’t think I’ve ever had to fight so hard to love something as hard as I’ve fought to love my name. I’m grateful for it because it’ll never allow me to reject my culture and my identity, but I get frustrated by this daily performance. I’ve learned that this performance is an inescapable fate, but the best way to deal with fate is to show up with joy. I am Nigerian, but specifically from the ethnic group, Yoruba. In Yoruba culture, most names are manifestations. Oluwademilade means God has crowned me, and my middle name is Favor, so my parents have manifested that I’ll be favored above others and have good success in life. No matter where I go, people familiar with the language will recognize my name and understand its meaning. I love that I’ll always carry a piece of my culture with me.

Francisco Garcia of Fort Worth, Texas: Accepted to college and by his community

In the opening paragraph of his college application essay, Francisco Garcia quotes his mother, speaking to him in Spanish, expressing disappointment that her son was failing to live up to her Catholic ideals. It was her reaction to Mr. Garcia revealing his bisexuality.

Mr. Garcia said those nine Spanish words were “the most intentional thing I did to share my background” with colleges. The rest of his essay delves into how his Catholic upbringing, at least for a time, squelched his ability to be honest with friends about his sexual identity, and how his relationship with the church changed. He said he had striven, however, to avoid coming across as pessimistic or sad, aiming instead to share “what I’ve been through [and] how I’ve become a better person because of it.”

He worked on his essay throughout July, August, and September, with guidance from college officials he met during campus visits and from an adviser he was paired with by Matriculate, which works with students who are high achievers from low-income families. Be very personal, they told Mr. Garcia, but within limits.

“I am fortunate to have support from all my friends, who encourage me to explore complexities within myself,” he wrote. “My friends give me what my mother denied me: acceptance.”

He was accepted by Dartmouth, one of the eight schools to which he applied, after graduating from Saginaw High School near Fort Worth, Texas, this spring.

– Nirvi Shah

Essay excerpt:

By the time I got to high school, I had made new friends who I felt safe around. While I felt I was more authentic with them, I was still unsure whether they would judge me for who I liked. It became increasingly difficult for me to keep hiding this part of myself, so I vented to both my mom and my closest friend, Yoana ... When I confessed that I was bisexual to Yoana, they were shocked, and I almost lost hope. However, after the initial shock, they texted back, “I’m really chill with this. Nothing has changed Francisco:)”. The smiley face, even if it took 2 characters, was enough to bring me to tears.

Hafsa Sheikh of Pearland, Texas: Family focus above all

Hafsa Sheikh felt her applications would be incomplete without the important context of her home life: She became a primary financial contributor to her household when she was just 15, because her father, once the family’s sole breadwinner, could not work due to his major depressive disorder. Her work in a pizza parlor on the weekends and as a tutor after school helped pay the bills.

She found it challenging to open up this way, but felt she needed to tell colleges that, although working two jobs throughout high school made her feel like crying from exhaustion every night, she would do anything for her family.

“It’s definitely not easy sharing some of the things that you’ve been through with, like really a stranger,” she says, “because you don’t know who’s reading it.”

And especially after the Supreme Court ruled against affirmative action, Ms. Sheikh felt she needed to write about her cultural identity. It’s a core part of who she is, but it’s also a major part of why her father’s mental illness affected her life so profoundly.

Ms. Sheikh, the daughter of Pakistani immigrants, said her family became isolated because of the negative stigma surrounding mental health in their South Asian culture. She said they became the point of gossip in the community and even among extended family members, and they were excluded from many social gatherings. This was happening as she was watching the typical high school experiences pass her by, she wrote. Because of the long hours she had to work, she had to forgo the opportunity to try out for the girls’ basketball team and debate club, and often couldn’t justify cutting back her hours to spend time with her friends.

She wrote that reflecting on one of her favorite passages in the Holy Quran gave her hope:

“One of my favorite ayahs, ‘verily, with every hardship comes ease,’ serves as a timeless reminder that adversity is not the end; rather, there is always light on the other side,” Ms. Sheikh wrote.

Her perseverance paid off, with admission to Princeton University.

-- Olivia Sanchez

Besides the financial responsibility on my mother and I, we had to deal with the stigma surrounding mental health in South Asian culture and the importance of upholding traditional gender roles. My family became a point of great gossip within the local Pakistani community and even extended family. Slowly, the invitations to social gatherings diminished, and I bailed on plans with friends because I couldn’t afford to miss even a single hour of earnings.

David Arturo Munoz-Matta of McAllen, Texas: Weighing the risks of being honest

It was Nov. 30 and David Arturo Munoz-Matta had eight college essays due the next day. He had spent the prior weeks slammed with homework while also grieving the loss of his uncle who had just died. He knew the essays were going to require all the mental energy he could muster – not to mention whatever hours were left in the day. But he got home from school to discover he had no electricity.

“I was like, ‘What am I gonna do?’” says Mr. Munoz-Matta, who graduated from Lamar Academy in McAllen, Texas. “I was panicking for a while, and my mom was like, ‘You know what? I’m just gonna drop you off at Starbucks and then just call me when you finish with all your essays.’ And so I was there at Starbucks from 4 until 12 in the morning.”

The personal statement he agonized over most was the one he submitted to Georgetown University.

“I don’t want to be mean or anything, but I feel like a lot of these institutions are very elitist, and that my story might not resonate with the admissions officers,” Mr. Munoz-Matta says. “It was a very big risk, especially when I said I was born in Mexico, when I said I grew up in an abusive environment. I believed at the time that would not be good for universities, that they might feel like, ‘I don’t want this kid, he won’t be a good fit with the student body.’”

He didn’t have an adult to help him with his essay, but another student encouraged him to be honest. It worked. He got into his dream school, Georgetown University, with a full ride. Many of his peers were not as fortunate.

“I know because of the affirmative action decision, a lot of my friends did not even apply to these universities, like the Ivies, because they felt like they were not going to get in,” he says. “That was a very big sentiment in my school.”

– Meredith Kolodner

While many others in my grade level had lawyers and doctors for parents and came from exemplary middle schools at the top of their classes, I was the opposite. I came into Lamar without middle school recognition, recalling my 8th-grade science teacher’s claim that I would never make it. At Lamar, freshman year was a significant challenge as I constantly struggled, feeling like I had reached my wit’s end. By the middle of Freshman year, I was the only kid left from my middle school, since everyone else had dropped out. Rather than following suit, I kept going. I felt like I had something to prove to myself because I knew I could make it.

Kendall Martin of Austin, Texas: From frustration to love

Kendall Martin wanted to be clear with college admissions officers about one thing: She is a young Black woman, and her race is central to who she is. Ms. Martin was ranked 15th in her graduating class from KIPP Austin Collegiate. She was a key figure on her high school basketball team. She wanted colleges to know she had overcome adversity. But most importantly, Ms. Martin says, she wanted to be sure, when her application was reviewed, “Y’all know who you are accepting.”

It wouldn’t be as simple as checking a box, though, which led Ms. Martin, of Kyle, Texas, to the topic she chose for her college admissions essay, the year after the Supreme Court said race could not be a factor in college admissions. Instead, she looked at the hair framing her face, hair still scarred from being straightened time and again.

Ms. Martin wrote about the struggles she faced growing up with hair that she says required extensive time to tame so she could simply run her fingers through it. Now headed to Rice University in Houston – her first choice from a half-dozen options – she included a photo of her braids as part of her application. Her essay described her journey from hating her hair to embracing it, from heat damage to learning to braid, from frustration to love, a feeling she now hopes to inspire in her sister.

“That’s what I wanted to get across: my growing up, my experiences, everything that made me who I am,” she says.

– Nirvi Shah

I’m still recovering from the heat damage I caused by straightening my hair every day, because I was so determined to prove that I had length. When I was younger, a lot of my self worth was based on how long my hair was, so when kids made fun of my “short hair,” I despised my curls more and more. I begged my mom to let me get a relaxer, but she continued to deny my wish. This would make me so angry, because who was she to tell me what I could and couldn’t do with my hair? But looking back, I’m so glad she never let me. I see now that a relaxer wasn’t the key to making me prettier, and my love for my curls has reached an all-time high.

This story about college admission essays was produced by The Hechinger Report , a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for Hechinger’s higher education newsletter . Listen to Hechinger’s higher education podcast .

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Traditional-Age

After Supreme Court Ruling, Can the Essay Get You In?

It may help to identify minority students, but experts caution against expecting essays to replace affirmative action.

By Scott Jaschik

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Student looking thoughtful while sitting at a desk with paper and pencil and a laptop on the desk.

In the wake of the Supreme Court decision on affirmative action, experts caution against expecting essays to replace it.

iStock / Getty Images Plus

One of the essay prompts on the Common Application is:

“Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.”

The question was on the Common App last year, and the organization is not changing any of its essay prompts this year. Is the question a perfect boost to minority students to get into competitive colleges?

That question for colleges, more than 1,000 of which are members of the Common App, is how to use the answers students write. To date, the experts are advising caution, both to colleges and students.

The Supreme Court decision eliminating affirmative action in college admissions, by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., said: “[A]s all parties agree, nothing in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise.”

However, Roberts quickly added, “But despite the dissent’s assertion to the contrary, universities may not simply establish through application essays or other means the regime we hold unlawful today.”

It’s true that answering the question on the Common App or similar questions elsewhere may be an obvious way for minority students to identify their race or ethnicity. But for students and colleges, Roberts’ warning looms large.

“The court has certainly given us some mixed signals on this,” said Melanie Gottlieb, executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. She welcomed the decision for “some recognition that one cannot simply ignore the context of an applicant’s lived experiences and how that has shaped their character, ambitions and achievements.”

“That said,” she added, “he offered a warning in the next breath. What is clear is that this will be carefully watched and likely further litigated.”

Gottlieb said, “It’s really too soon to offer much advice beyond institutions’ being quite clear about their missions, and working with their admission readers to ensure that they are well trained to read essays and make holistic assessments.”

David Hawkins, chief education and policy officer of the National Association for College Admission Counseling, said, “so long as the methods and assessments are race-neutral, colleges should feel free to continue their efforts to derive contextual information from essays and interviews as part of the college application process.”

But he added that the Supreme Court “made a point of noting that any consideration of a student’s race may take place only inasmuch as it reflects a personal attribute—such as character—that is attractive to the college.” He said, “From this language, all colleges, including those requiring essays and interviews, will benefit from tracing a strong connection between their institution’s mission, the types of students the college seeks to attract to fulfill that mission, the requirements for admission including essays and interviews, and the way in which information transmitted about students through such requirements are evaluated.”

Hawkins added that a report NACAC issued last year “pointed out that requiring components outside of the body of a student’s K-12 work in the application process can work against equity in some cases.” For colleges not requiring essays or interviews, he said the report “noted that among the promising practices already underway was the consideration of performance assessments, which can provide admission offices with artifacts from student learning in K-12 and can provide a more nuanced insight into a student’s strengths, passions, background and potential.”

Caution is also advised by Edward Blum, the founder and president of Students for Fair Admissions, the group that sued Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, setting up the Supreme Court decision.

He declined to discuss the question of application essays, but said his views were clear in a part of the statement he issued the day of the Supreme Court ruling. He said, “[A]dministrators of higher education must note: The law will not tolerate direct proxies for racial classifications. For those in leadership positions at public and private universities, you have a legal obligation to follow the letter and the spirit of the law.”

His view is largely shared as well by those who are advising colleges on what to do next, even among those who disagree with his views on affirmative action.

“Using essays as a proxy for race is a slippery slope,” said Robert J. Massa, principal and co-founder of Enrollment Intelligence Now.

He said that colleges should “keep careful records of the impact that an essay has on an admission decision. If colleges create a point system for essay evaluation that is consistent across all readers, with training to go along with that, this could lessen the chance of racial bias. Colleges must be able to demonstrate that they are coding essays in a way that is clearly independent from race.”

Another issue is that "students who write about adversity in their lives, and how they overcame it, would have to be treated similarly in the process whether that student is black or white, low income or high income. That could be one way to demonstrate the impact of the essay on an admissions decision without racial bias. But the bottom line for me is: proceed with caution.”

What About Students?

And there is also the question about what students would write.

Matteo Wong wrote in The Atlantic that the Supreme Court has “killed the college admission essay.”

Wong’s explanation: “The end of affirmative action will pressure high schoolers to write about their race through formulaic and belittling narrative tropes.”

Robert Schwartz of Your Best College Essay, a company that advises students on their essays, said he didn’t expect essays to change dramatically. “I had two kids last year write about their dads cheating on their moms. One kid was Chinese, the other Indian,” and their ethnicities were clear in the essays.

“Were they writing those essays this year, shoehorning their race into the essays would come off as gratuitous. Admissions officers would know why they did it, and it would take away from the essay completely,” Schwartz said. “Besides, the last names of those two kids is a dead giveaway of their race and ethnicity.”

Schwartz said he has heard of others in his field who “tell me they’ll have their kids insert race into the essay. I won’t go near that.”

The only students with whom he would consider mentioning race (somewhere in the application) are African Americans whose “race is not evident from their name, so ensuring that the admissions officer know they’re Black will have to be done in other parts of the app, if not in the essay.”

Since the ruling came down, he’s been asking all students he works with about whether the decision will have a negative impact on them. “All of the Asian, Indian, and White kids said it would not … The African-American kids I am working with all said, ‘Yes, the ruling makes it harder for me and others like me.’”

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The Supreme Court Killed the College-Admissions Essay

The end of affirmative action will pressure high schoolers to write about their race through formulaic and belittling narrative tropes.

Nestled within yesterday’s Supreme Court decision declaring that race-conscious admissions programs, like those at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, are unconstitutional is a crucial carveout: Colleges are free to consider “an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life.” In other words, they can weigh a candidate’s race when it is mentioned in an admissions essay. Observers had already speculated about personal essays becoming invaluable tools for candidates who want to express their racial background without checking a box—now it is clear that the end of affirmative action will transform not only how colleges select students, but also how teenagers advertise themselves to colleges.

For essays and statements to provide a workaround for pursuing diversity, applicants must first cast themselves as diverse. The American Council on Education, a nonprofit focused on the impacts of public policy on higher education, recently convened a panel dedicated to planning for the demise of affirmative action; admissions directors and consultants emphasized the need “to educate students about how to write about who they are in a very different way,” expressing their “full authentic story” and “trials and tribulations.” In other words, if colleges can’t use race as a criterion in its own right, because the Court has ruled doing so violates the Fourteenth Amendment, then high schoolers trying to navigate the nebulous admissions process may feel pressure to write as plainly as possible about how their race and experiences of racism make them better applicants.

Turning personal writing into a way to market one’s race means folding oneself into nonspecific formulas, reducing a lifetime to easily understood types. This flattening of the college essay in response to the long hospice of race-based affirmative action comes alongside another reductive phenomenon upending student writing: the ascendance of generative AI. High schoolers , undergraduates , and professional authors are enlisting ChatGPT or similar programs to write for them; educators fear that admissions essays will prove no exception . The pitfalls of using AI to write a college application, however, are already upon us, as the pressure to sell one’s race and race-based adversity to colleges will compel students to write like chatbots. Tired platitudes about race angled to persuade admissions officers will crowd out more individual, creative approaches, the result no better than a machine’s banal aggregation of the web. Writing about one’s race can be clarifying, even revelatory; de facto requiring someone write about their racial identity, in a form that can veer toward framing race as a negative attribute in need of overcoming, is stifling and demeaning. Or, as the attorney and author Elie Mystal tweeted more bluntly yesterday, “Why should a Black student have to WASTE SPACE explaining ‘how racism works’”?

Read: Elite multiculturalism is over

Such essays can feel prewritten. Many Black and minority applicants “believe that a story of struggle is necessary to show that they are ‘diverse,’” the sociologist and former college-admissions officer Aya M. Waller-Bey wrote in this magazine earlier this month; admissions officers and college-prep programs can valorize such trauma narratives, too. Indeed, research analyzing tens of thousands of college applications shows that essay content and style predict income better than SAT scores do: Lower-income students were much more likely to write about topics including abuse, economic insecurity, and immigration. Similarly, another study found that girls applying to engineering programs were more likely to foreground their gender as “women in science,” perhaps to distinguish themselves from their male counterparts. These predictable scripts, which many students believe to be most palatable, are the kind of stale , straightforward narratives—about race, identity, and otherwise—that AI programs excel at writing. Language models work by analyzing massive amounts of text for patterns and then spitting out statistically probable outputs, which means they are adept at churning out clichéd language and narrative tropes but quite terrible at writing anything original, poetic , or inspiring .

To explore and narrativize one’s identity is of course important, even essential; I wrote about my mixed heritage for my own college essay. Race acts as what the cultural theorist Stuart Hall called a “ floating signifier ,” a label that refers to constantly shifting relationships, interactions, and material conditions. “Race works like a language,” Hall said, meaning that race provides a way to ground discussions of varying experiences, support networks, histories of discrimination, and more. To discuss and write about one’s race or heritage, then, is a way of finding and making meaning.

But molding race into what an admissions officer might want is the opposite of discovery; it means one is writing toward somebody else’s perceived desires. It’s not too dissimilar from writing an admissions essay with a language model that has imbibed and reproduced tropes that already exist, blighting meaningful self-discovery on the part of impressionable young people and instead trapping them in unoriginal, barren, and even debasing scripts that humans and machines alike have prewritten about their identities. Chatbots’ statistical regurgitations cannot reinvent language, only cannibalize it; the programs do not reflect so much as repeat. When I asked ChatGPT to write me a college essay, it gave me boilerplate filler: My journey as a half-Chinese, half-Italian individual has been one of self-discovery, resilience, and growth . That sentence is broadly true, perhaps a plus for an admissions officer, but vapid and nonspecific—useless to me, personally. It doesn’t push toward anything meaningful, or really anything at all.

Read: The college essay is dead

A future of college essays that package race in canned archetypes reeking of a chatbot’s metallic touch could read alarmingly similar to the very Supreme Court opinions that ended race-conscious admissions yesterday: a framing of race “unmoored from critical real-life circumstances,” as Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in her dissent; a pathetic understanding of various Asian diasporic groups from Justice Clarence Thomas; a twisting of landmark civil-rights legislation, constitutional amendments, and court cases into a predetermined and weaponized crusade against any attempt to promote diversity or ameliorate historical discrimination. Chatbots, too, make things up , advance porous arguments, and gaslight their users. If race works like a language, then colleges, teachers, parents, and high-school students alike must make sure that that language remains a human one.

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High-stakes, high-stress college essay stirs more anxiety under affirmative action ban

Brielle "Yuuki" Lubin rests his body against a piano keyboard.

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Olivia Brandeis had a vision for her college application essay: She would write about covering a racist incident as a student journalist of color at Monte Vista High School in Danville, a majority-white city east of Oakland. But last week’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down race-based affirmative action has filled her with anxious questions about sharing her experiences as an Asian American.

Does her identity matter to colleges? Is her essay subject now a taboo topic? If she doesn’t write about her experience, how will she present her authentic self? Who can she turn to for advice?

The college admission essay, a high-stakes pitch in which applicants have limited words to describe who they are and why campuses should admit them, just got even more stressful for students of color.

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 29: Kashish Bastola, a rising sophomore at Harvard University, hugs Nahla Owens, also a Harvard University student, outside of the Supreme Court of the United States on Thursday, June 29, 2023 in Washington, DC. In a 6-3 vote, Supreme Court Justices ruled that race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina are unconstitutional, setting precedent for affirmative action in other universities and colleges. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

Supreme Court strikes down race-based affirmative action in college admissions

In another major reversal, the Supreme Court forbids the use of race as an admissions factor at colleges and universities.

June 29, 2023

As colleges and universities nationwide prepare to accept applications for fall 2024 admission, the high court ruling has raised myriad questions about the all-important essay — the blank space where students describe their passions and promise, hardships overcome, challenges met, life lessons learned. Admission officers rely on essays to get to know a student beyond grades and transcripts — and it’s become even more crucial at institutions that have eliminated consideration of standardized tests, as the University of California did in 2020.

But students of color like Olivia say they are conflicted and confused by the ruling — and how to interpret comments by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who wrote in the majority opinion that race could be discussed within some parameters.

Brielle "Yuuki" Lubin is photographed at the Colburn School of Performing Arts.

“Nothing in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise,” Roberts wrote. But he said that colleges may consider race only if it is tied to an applicant’s individual experiences or qualities — such as demonstrating courage against discrimination.

Roberts warned that institutions should not use personal statements as a backdoor way to ask students about their race and admit them on that basis. “Universities may not simply establish through application essays or other means the regime we hold unlawful today,” he wrote.

Even the experts are questioning how to advise students.

“I don’t think that we quite know how we should proceed yet,” said Melanie Gottlieb, executive director of the American Assn. of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officers. “I think that the college essay ... is a crucial tool for institutions to determine who to bring into their class, who is going to best contribute to the overall class and who is going to best benefit from the opportunities. And so I don’t think it’s going to go away. But it’s going to be a question about how we proceed … within the legal constraints — because they’re not clear right now.”

Los Angeles, CA - February 08: Scenes around the leafy campus of Occidental College Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022 in Los Angeles, CA. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

‘We’re really worried’: What do colleges do now after affirmative action ruling?

The Supreme Court’s ban on affirmative action has triggered angst on campuses about how to promote diversity without considering race in admissions decisions.

UC admission counselors have learned to walk that line since 1996, when California voters banned affirmative action in public education, contracting and hiring with the passage of Proposition 209. UC asks students to respond to four of eight “personal insight” questions that aim to “show us your personality” by writing about their creative side, talents and skills, thoughts on leadership, educational barriers overcome, a challenge faced or other topics.

‘Highlight those extra qualities’

UC Santa Barbara admissions director Lisa Przekop said students still write about their race and ethnicity. Although her team can’t consider race, they can evaluate how students responded to important issues that affected their lives.

Many Black students wrote about the 2020 killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, Przekop said. But she looked for how students’ pain and rage motivated actions — starting a school discussion group focused on racial discrimination, for instance. Asian students who wrote about giving up Saturdays for Chinese or Japanese school demonstrated sacrifice and commitment, she said. A Latina who described her lifelong involvement with Folklorico dance impressed Przekop by showing how she educated others about her culture.

Przekop advised students who plan to share their race or ethnic background to include context about what it means to them. Or if sharing a difficult experience — discrimination or bullying for instance — explain what action it prompted.

“This happened, so then what?” Przekop said.

LOS ANGELES-CA-MARCH 11, 2020: Classes have moved to online only at UCLA on Wednesday, March 11, 2020. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

A lot of what you’ve heard about affirmative action is wrong

Debate leading up to the Supreme Court’s decision has stirred up plenty of misconceptions. We break down the myths and explain the reality.

Morgan Blue, a counselor at Santee High School south of downtown Los Angeles, said she will emphasize that her students — virtually all of them low-income — showcase how they’ve made the most of their comparatively limited opportunities.

“I just want the schools to be able to see who our students are, and it’s sometimes not fair because they’re put against applicants who have different opportunities than they have,” she said. “Now it’s even more important for our students to highlight those extra qualities.”

Students weigh what to do

As they continued to absorb the impact of the ruling, several students shared their thoughts about how it is affecting their thinking.

Sarah Yee said she will not change her topic because of the affirmative action ban. Her race is intrinsically tied to her interests and the career she would like to pursue. She will describe her experiences in healthcare journalism, her poetry about Asian American and Pacific Islander youth suicides, and how her interest in the healthcare field stemmed from Asian American role models such as Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Dr. Atul Gawande.

“I’m proud to be Asian American. That’s never something that I want to hide,” said Sarah, a rising senior at Granite Bay High School near Sacramento.

“It’s important that regardless of what college I go to, they accept me for who I am and my racial background and what I’m interested in,” she said. “So [writing about being Asian American] was never really a question for me.”

Brielle “Yuuki” Lubin, a rising senior at a Los Angeles private school, wasn’t planning to mention his Jewish and Japanese heritage — and now is confused over whether he should.

If he doesn’t talk about being Asian, will admissions officers look at his last name and assume he is French? Are they going to expect more complex personal statements now? Can he express who he is in totality — an Asian, Jewish, transgender man — or will it be too much?

People with the Asian American Coalition for Education rally outside of the Supreme Court

The end of affirmative action won’t change much for them, some Asian Americans say

Some Asian Americans believe college officials will find ways to get around the ban and ensure they admit enough underrepresented students, including Black Americans and Latinos.

Brielle had planned to discuss how movies helped him discover his own definition of masculinity. His essay explains how, as a child, he saw himself in certain male characters in movies such as “The Boxtrolls” and “Kubo and the Two Strings.” After his middle school years, where he struggled to accept his LGBTQ+ identity, it was movies that saved him again. Indie movies he watched in high school that featured gay male characters “made me realize being trans is OK. ... I can just be who I am and still be a man,” he said.

A close-up of Brielle "Yuuki" Lubin's hands at a Yamaha piano keyboard.

His essay concludes with a discussion about how his experiences as an aspiring filmmaker have motivated him to bring more transgender characters to the screen. As he waits for new guidance from counselors, Brielle plans to keep the essay as is.

Brielle’s classmate, Nathalie Leung, had been nervous that her Chinese background could be held against her in admissions decisions but the ruling has made her feel “more confident” that she can write about how her heritage has shaped her values and thinking.

Olivia, of Danville , was confused by Roberts’ opinion — banning the consideration of race, yet not prohibiting students to write about it. Now the rising junior is uncertain about her topic. She was going to explain how she covered high school racism for her school paper — students shouting a racial slur at a rival’s basketball game, a swastika found in the school gymnasium — as a mixed-race journalist who is Indian and white.

She thought it would give her an edge at USC, Pomona, Georgetown and other colleges she’s targeting.

“Now that whole idea is kind of in jeopardy,” she said. “Will it make admissions officers less willing to admit me?”

Advice by college students of color

Simya Smith, who graduated from Dorsey High School in June and will attend Stanford in the fall, said she wrote about the loss of her father when she was 9 years old, her ensuing depression and her realization that she needed to reembrace life and pursue opportunities, something that her father would have wanted for her.

Simya Smith holds a megaphone during a student protest in front of the LAUSD School Police headquarters in June 2022.

“I found this love for education because something that really helps with depression is being able to find hobbies or things that bring you joy,” she said. She also got involved in promoting restorative justice and other social justice activities.

Even under the new legal landscape, “my personal statement would have stayed the same, just because, personally, it’s the most significant event in my life, and that really is what shaped me.”

Her advice to rising seniors?

“If there is an event that is super significant in their life, but it doesn’t necessarily [home] in on their racial experiences, I think that they should still talk about that. Because your story is your story. And everyone’s is very different.”

Nani Ozelotzin-Hernandez spotlighted in her essays the struggle of being an Indigenous woman often deprived of resources or opportunities of more privileged students. She applied to 12 schools — she was accepted to about half of them — and decided to attend the nursing program at Seattle University.

Nani Ozelotzin-Hernandez poses for a portrait on the porch of a home.

Nani said that her small public charter school — Anahuacalmecac International University Preparatory of North America, located in El Sereno — had a graduating class of about 13 and provided family-like emotional and cultural support. But the school did not have the resources to offer broad higher-level coursework or deep and consistent guidance with the college-application process. She alluded to this situation in her essays.

“I just struggled a lot finding classes that would challenge me,” Nani said. “For me and my peers, when we were writing the essay, we really tried to spotlight how we overcame not having enough resources.”

Quincy Diallo, a rising junior at Yale, poses for a portrait in front a full bookshelf.

Quincy Diallo, a rising junior at Yale studying English and African American studies, wrote his personal statement about experiencing medical discrimination as a Black man.

After an accident in gym class left Diallo with a concussion, he entered his freshman year at Campbell Hall, a private school in Studio City, unable to concentrate. His grades slipped for months as he struggled to keep up with schoolwork.

Diallo experienced concussion symptoms. Nurses and doctors thought he was exaggerating when he insisted something was wrong. Teachers and administrators mistook his inability to focus in class as him being distracted. As people refused to take his concerns seriously, he wrote, his interest in becoming a doctor grew and cemented a commitment to a future combating medical discrimination.

“The crux of the essay was that people writing me off actually helped me become more self-assured, standing on what I believe in,” he said. “How I took that negative and turned it into a positive.”

Diallo aimed for universities such as Yale, Duke and Princeton and wanted to “give them exactly who I am on a piece of paper and they’ll take it or leave it.”

He would still write the same essay today. Being barred from doing so, he said, would have prevented him from sharing his full complexity.

“It would’ve stripped a lot of my humanity out of my writing,” he said. “It breaks my heart for kids who are going to be dealing with that.”

Most Asian Americans think SAT but not race is fair to consider for college admissions

May 29, 2024

Hillary Amofa listens to others member of the Lincoln Park High School step team after school Friday, March 8, 2024, in Chicago. When she started writing her college essay, Amofa told the story she thought admissions offices wanted to hear. She wrote about being the daughter of immigrants from Ghana, about growing up in a small apartment in Chicago. She described hardship and struggle. Then she deleted it all. "I would just find myself kind of trauma-dumping," said the 18 year-old senior, "And I'm just like, this doesn't really say anything about me as a person." (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Should college essays touch on race? Some say affirmative action ruling leaves them no choice

March 27, 2024

CLAREMONT, CA - APRIL 12: A campus tour takes place at Claremont McKenna College on Monday, April 12, 2021 in Claremont, CA. The school has reopened in-person tours after shutting them down last year amid the pandemic. The college tour is a key aid in helping students make their big decisions. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Editorial: Early decision admissions for college unfairly favor wealthy students

Jan. 4, 2024

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Milla Surjadi was a 2023 Metro reporting intern at the Los Angeles Times. A New York City native, she is a rising senior at Duke University, where she studies English and journalism. She served as editor in chief of the Chronicle, Duke’s independent student newspaper, last year. She has interned at the Tampa Bay Times and written for the 9th Street Journal and IndyWeek.

Howard Blume covers education for the Los Angeles Times. He’s won the top investigative reporting prize from the L.A. Press Club and print Journalist of the Year from the L.A. Society of Professional Journalists chapter. He recently retired “Deadline L.A.,” a past honoree for best public-affairs radio program, which he produced and co-hosted on KPFK-FM (90.7) for 15 years. He teaches tap dancing and has two superior daughters.

Teresa Watanabe covers education for the Los Angeles Times. Since joining the Times in 1989, she has covered immigration, ethnic communities, religion, Pacific Rim business and served as Tokyo correspondent and bureau chief. She also covered Asia, national affairs and state government for the San Jose Mercury News and wrote editorials for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. A Seattle native, she graduated from USC in journalism and in East Asian languages and culture.

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For Abortion Providers, a Tough Business Gets Even Tougher

After the fall of Roe v. Wade, some clinics thought they could expand their businesses in states that still allowed them to operate. It hasn’t quite worked out that way.

The interior of the entrance of Affirmative Care Solutions.

By Jennifer Miller

Providing abortion services has always been a difficult business, with tiny-to-nonexistent profit margins and often-challenging logistical obstacles. And the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson two years ago , which eliminated the constitutional right to an abortion, has made the landscape of reproductive services even tougher.

The fall of Roe v. Wade has pushed many abortion clinics to explore alternative markets for their services. Some clinics are moving to abortion-rights states or expanding their presence there, hoping to meet the needs of a more concentrated customer base. According to a recent analysis by The New York Times, out-of-state travel for abortions more than doubled in 2023 compared with travel in 2019, and made up nearly a fifth of recorded abortions.

Caitlin Myers, a professor of economics at Middlebury College who tracks clinic openings and closures nationwide , estimated that at least 12 new clinics opened directly in response to Dobbs and another six relocated after abortion was banned in their states.

Many clinics are finding out, however, that blue states can often be almost as hostile to their presence as red ones.

In September 2022, Dr. Matthew Reeves signed a lease for a new branch of the DuPont Clinic in Beverly Hills, Calif., as he sought to expand his reproductive health care clinic beyond its original location in Washington, D.C. In January of that year, as the future of Roe v. Wade looked increasingly uncertain, Dr. Reeves and Jennefer Russo, the chief medical officer of DuPont Clinic, had begun to think about opening an additional practice in a state that allowed access to abortions

“Dobbs was percolating and it became apparent that the Supreme Court was likely to overturn Roe v. Wade,” Dr. Russo said in an interview earlier this year. “Our thinking was that patients could come to L.A. if they lived west of the Mississippi.”

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(PDF) The History of Affirmative Action Essay-
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Affirmative Action: Pros and Cons
Get original essay. Affirmative Action is made up of laws, guidelines, policies, and administrative practices intended to end and correct the effects of historical and systematic discrimination against underprivileged minority groups. (Feinberg) Affirmative action has been scrutinized by opponents over the last few decades.
Essay on Affirmative Action
Essay on Affirmative Action The affirmative action emerged in response to the persisting inequality in the US society and attempted to close gaps between people that would help to prevent tension and confrontation between the privileged mainstream social group and discriminated groups, which consisted of low-income employees, minorities, and female employees.
The Case for Affirmative Action
Affirmative action was developed in the 1960s to address racial inequality and racial exclusion in American society. Colleges and universities wanted to be seen as forward-thinking on issues of race. Then, in the late 1970s, affirmative action went to the United States Supreme Court. There, the only justification accepted, by Justice Powell ...
Affirmative Action in America
Affirmative action is a strategy in America that seeks to address precedent discrimination via dynamic measures to make certain that opportunities in employment and education are equal. Some of the steps of affirmative action in America have been met with remarkable controversies. Of late, the advantages of a race-based admittance plan in ...
Application Essay More Important After Affirmative Action Ruling
The Supreme Court's decision on affirmative action said students can address race in college application essays, but how best to accomplish that remains unclear.
Essay on Affirmative Action
Affirmative action is a practice that is intended to promote opportunities for the "protected class" which includes minorities, woman, and people with disabilities or any disadvantaged group for that matter. With affirmative action in place people of this protected class are given an even playing field in terms of hiring, promotion, as well ...
Affirmative Action Pros And Cons: [Essay Example], 662 words
Affirmative action, a policy aimed at redressing these inequalities, has been a subject of heated debate for decades. In this essay, we will explore the pros and cons of affirmative action, shedding light on its multifaceted nature.
Affirmative Action: Positive and Negative Results
Introduction The paper will look at Affirmative Action and the initial intent of its legislation. Two court cases on Affirmative Action will also be considered with their results and conclusion. After that, results of Affirmative Action, both positive and negative will be noted and a personal view of the issue brought out. Get a custom essay on Affirmative Action: Positive and Negative Results ...
Essays on Affirmative Action
6 pages / 2551 words. Abstract The policy of affirmative action and individual responses to such policies is the focus of this research essay. It opens with a brief discussion on the gender-based differences in acceptance levels of affirmative action policies. The consequences of such actions on the targets have...
Arguments for and against Affirmative action Essay
Introduction The aim of affirmative action is to ensure that distribution of resources is done in appropriate and considerable manner that includes every person from diverse racial and ethnic background. Get a custom essay on Arguments for and against Affirmative action 187 writers online Learn More Those in support for affirmative action argues that there are certain groups of people who have ...
Essay on Affirmative Action
Indeed, affirmative action clearly causes increasing amounts of racial diversity issues and is hardly a recipe for achieving proper diversity in modern social roles. This sample essay demonstrates some of the many essay writing services Ultius offers.
Conclusion
The brief final chapter does three things: (1) it summarizes the content of the book; (2) it sets out four of its main claims; and (3) it ends with some remarks about real-life affirmative action schemes mentioned in earlier chapters. Roughly, the pertinent four main claims of the book are (1) the cautious pro-affirmative action claim—that ...
College Counselors on Writing About Race in College Essays
After the Supreme Court struck down affirmative-action, the college admissions essay will become even more important.
Affirmative Action Essay by EduBirdie
In conclusion what is affirmative action? Affirmative action is promoting opportunity to those of a minority group who don't have the opportunity to begin with.
Read Key Sections of the Supreme Court's Affirmative Action Ruling
The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down race-conscious admissions policies for most colleges and universities across the country in a pair of cases challenging affirmative action at Harvard and ...
Affirmative action ban: How students write college essays a year later
A year ago, the U.S. Supreme Court barred the use of affirmative action in college admissions. Students have since used their application essays as a place to explore identity.
Examining admissions essays post-affirmative action
After the Supreme Court barred affirmative action, many selective colleges added essay prompts focused on identity and diversity. Will they hold up under legal scrutiny?
Will Essay Prompts Get Students in After the Affirmative Action Ruling?
After Supreme Court Ruling, Can the Essay Get You In? It may help to identify minority students, but experts caution against expecting essays to replace affirmative action.
The Supreme Court Killed the College-Admissions Essay
The end of affirmative action will pressure high schoolers to write about their race through formulaic and belittling narrative tropes.
Affirmative action ruling raises stakes on college application essay
High-stakes, high-stress college essay stirs more anxiety under affirmative action ban Brielle "Yuuki" Lubin studies piano at the Colburn School of Performing Arts in downtown Los Angeles. The ...
Colleges Change the Essays on Applications After Affirmative Action Ban
With affirmative action banned, application essays ask about "life experience," the one place in admissions where discussing race is still explicitly legal.
Conclusion
Conclusion - Affirmative Action. Affirmative action may prove to benefit those with a history of discrimination to their particular ethnicity, but, giving them an advantage over those without a history of discrimination in the past creates even more social injustice. In other words, in an attempt to establish equality as compensation for the ...
After Affirmative Action Ban, Students Use Essays to Highlight Race
After Affirmative Action Ban, They Rewrote College Essays With a Key Theme: Race. The Supreme Court's ruling intended to remove the consideration of race during the admissions process. So ...
For Abortion Providers, a Tough Business Gets Even Tougher
After the fall of Roe v. Wade, some clinics thought they could expand their businesses in states that still allowed them to operate. It hasn't quite worked out that way.

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The Supreme Court Killed the College-Admissions Essay

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High-stakes, high-stress college essay stirs more anxiety under affirmative action ban

Supreme Court strikes down race-based affirmative action in college admissions

‘We’re really worried’: What do colleges do now after affirmative action ruling?

‘Highlight those extra qualities’

A lot of what you’ve heard about affirmative action is wrong

Students weigh what to do

The end of affirmative action won’t change much for them, some Asian Americans say