So You Think You Know What Affirmative Action Is

Earlier today, I wrote a post about affirmative action. EFerrari over at Democratic Underground responded with this personal story that elegantly makes the point I attempted to make:

In my case, I was a Latina that grew up in a household just holding its own around the poverty line. No one at my high school ever talked to me about college even though I was in the top 1% of my class. Heck, *I* didn't even know that until years later because my future was so scripted for me -- I'd drop a few kids and maybe go type somewhere if they'd have me. That's true. I didn't have any burning awareness of the way we were routed at the time.

But, after only dropping 1 kid, lol, I knew I couldn't type the rest of my life and stay sane. So, I took some more classes at our JC and then applied to Berkeley. And the only reason I applied there was that they had access to AA grants and loans. In other words, that was really the only campus I had any hope of going to that I could afford. I brought my academic record and they responded by giving me a few grants and access to a few good loans. No one pushed me forward because of my gender or my ethnicity, they pushed me forward because of my record. All they were doing was helping me stay in school once I showed that I could produce.

I was one of two Latinos in my grad school class, and one of three students of color and one of two students over 30 -- all in a class of 19. I don't see how we can take over the world at that rate, so everyone should just relax. Especially given all the time we spend filling out forms and interviewing and writing to committees to get the money we need just to do something easy like stay in grad school.

Affirmative Action isn't about putting unqualified people in better positions. It's about not wasting qualified people. About retaining them and helping them position themselves where the benefit is not only to themselves but to the community. Now, there's a thought.

As usual, the Republicans have inverted what Affirmative Action means and are getting away with it.

Thank you EFerrari.