The political intrigue with affirmative action may have its partisan agendas as they usually do. President Bush was recently found vocalizing his support for diversity in higher education through other devised plans such as his own "affirmative access" plan which was implemented in Texas while he was governor. These so-called “percent plans” have been implemented in states which were affected by the Hopwood ruling – major state universities were banned from using affirmative action programs due to the 5th Circuit Court ruling. Bush and supporting Republicans believe that percent plans do and will create more diversity in the classroom without highly favoring minorities in the classroom.
With this stance on creating affirmative access programs, the Democratic Party has blatantly attacked Bush and his plan saying that it is not conducive to creating such diverse environments. Other civil rights groups have also shown their disdain towards Bush and his supporters with this plan as well. However, Harvard University has done significant research and study into these percent plans and “has found that simply designating a proportion of each high school class entitled to public university admission results in diverse college campuses.” Thus, according to these results race neutral plans can enhance minority enrollment into public universities without deliberately and consciously choosing a student based on the color of their skin. The Michigan case could have major implications for Bush and his Republican counterparts running in the next election. His conservative supporters are opposed to race-based preferences and affirmative action policies, but the Republican Party is trying to get minority voters to vote their way which may cause a slight conflict within our party system.
One would think that an issue involving school admittance wouldn’t become a far fetching controversy that would place its stamp on all of the governmental branches. As we wait for a national precedent to be established by the Supreme Court, it is imperative to take account for the national implications that affect such many assorted entities – a child’s educational future, where power lies in the various political parties and racial relations in general.
With this stance on creating affirmative access programs, the Democratic Party has blatantly attacked Bush and his plan saying that it is not conducive to creating such diverse environments. Other civil rights groups have also shown their disdain towards Bush and his supporters with this plan as well. However, Harvard University has done significant research and study into these percent plans and “has found that simply designating a proportion of each high school class entitled to public university admission results in diverse college campuses.” Thus, according to these results race neutral plans can enhance minority enrollment into public universities without deliberately and consciously choosing a student based on the color of their skin. The Michigan case could have major implications for Bush and his Republican counterparts running in the next election. His conservative supporters are opposed to race-based preferences and affirmative action policies, but the Republican Party is trying to get minority voters to vote their way which may cause a slight conflict within our party system.
One would think that an issue involving school admittance wouldn’t become a far fetching controversy that would place its stamp on all of the governmental branches. As we wait for a national precedent to be established by the Supreme Court, it is imperative to take account for the national implications that affect such many assorted entities – a child’s educational future, where power lies in the various political parties and racial relations in general.
posted by opalescence at
6:05 PM
