Thursday, September 3, 2009

Top 10 Percent? Or The Color of Your Skin?



This article by Ralph K.M. Haurwitz talks about the on-going race admission issues at the
University of Texas in Austin, TX. I'm not exactly sure why this is still an issue, but it is. Sadly, UT's system of selecting a "diverse" student body through the use of race is ruled constitutional by a Federal Judge. I understand that the top ten percent rule is to assist in the admissions process, but I do not understand the idea of using race as a secondary factor to narrow down the choices of student admission.

Federal Judge Sparks justifies his ruling by stating, "But, despite those efforts, UT still found diversity lacking in its student body and thus decided to consider race as part of its admissions process," Sparks wrote.

Lack of diversity? So, basically, when there aren't any other options or alternatives, just use race...right? According to this judge, yes it is right, but according to me and the 14th Amendment, no, it is not. I'm almost positive that UT's office of admissions could have most certainly obtained an alternative for selecting their students without using race. Although this article is serves as an eye-opener for myself, it does nothing more but prove to me that race still DOES matter in the United States. What happened to all men being created equal? I have alto of unanswered questions related to his argument and I need answers. Sadly, 40 years later from MLK Jr.'s death we are still hoping that us and our children "will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

THIS ARTICLE CAN BE READ AT:
http://www.statesman.com/search/content/region/legislature/stories/2009/08/18/0818utsuit.html

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