On November 7th, millions of Americans will head to the polls around the nation to elect those whom they wish to run our nations government. In no place does it seem that a community is more aware of the impact and significance of what can happen and the drastic political shifts we are on the verge of witnessing than here on the Hill. In the build-up to the grand event, many students here at the Academy have taken to voicing their opinions about various issues, especially through Facebook. One issue that continually crops up as a source of ire has been affirmative action, and in particular, the fierce opposition many at this school and around the nation have to it. The largest campaign issue concerning it contains over fourteen thousand members, greater than the largest “Save Darfur” group of a similar nature. It is relatively obvious as to why there is opposition by some on this campus to affirmative action. The system does grant certain preferred minorities significant advantages over others, seemingly in opposition to the principles of this nation. How is it fair for an African-American or Hispanic to get such an advantage over a Caucasian or Asian? Is it not in direct opposition to the principles of this nation? The pursuit of equality is, however, what makes affirmative action a necessary evil of sorts. Even forty years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, there remains a gross disparity in even simply keeping people above the poverty line. As of today, there are roughly 37 million Americans, or 12.6% of the population, below the poverty line. When looking at African-Americans and Hispanics, however, the numbers increase to 24.9% and 21.8%, respectively. Prison statistics are hardly a more pleasant number. While these two minority groups are roughly 25% of the population, African-Americans and Latinos constitute 43.91% and 18.26% of the prison inmate population, respectively. Something is definitely wrong when it comes to race in America. As a society, we can continue to decry the hypocrisy that affirmative action presents, or we can begin to look at the root causes. Whether we will change such a situation or not, forty years is simply not enough time to correct the enormous wealth and consequent opportunity imbalances that exist. There is a perfectly valid case to be made for altering the current system to work: instead of focusing on specific minorities, put affirmative action into place for members of a lower socioeconomic class. However, the imbalances that exist are more heavily dependent on race. By focusing on race, we can encourage a greater number of racial leaders to work to turn the tide. The impact of this is undisputed. People like Barack Obama are an influence to all and show that the American Dream is still alive and well. Any system reliant on race as a tool to judge people’s qualifications will be contentious and, ultimately, in direct opposition to the basis of what this nation stands for. However, it would be terribly unwise to ignore the realities of a situation based on principle. The system was never designed to last permanently, and the increased level of education is slowly beginning to equalize the playing field. Affirmative action could potentially work against a large proportion of the student body here at Andover. Fortunately, many of us have gained enough advantages by attending this institution to negate most of the adverse effects that people around the nation will experience. We gained the education, the experience and the confidence that others might not have. So yes, campaign against a system that deems certain races preferred, but only in due course, when we as a society have achieved the plateau in which such disparity is less obvious. Sadly enough, that time has just not yet arrived.
