"When the minority group student was accepted into the academy, he came - in everyone mind - as part of a “group.”
This line basically tells all. Being a minority and being judged or accepted/not accepted just for that has always been problematic and controversial. Although this line from his piece shows other people’s true judgmental colors, I agree with it and believe that it is true. No matter how many times we say our country has grown out of racism or grouping people like this, the reality is, we haven’t. I think it is just human nature to automatically judge others based on how they look or sometimes even who they hang out with. But I feel like the majority of people, especially young and naive Americans, do not actually take the time to get to know the person first before they judge them. Of course, minority is solely based on looks/race not personality, but even if one sees a black person or a brown person, most just assume they are indian and no one thinks about what type of African American they are. Today minorities are made into such a big deal that students are accepted into college because of their race/background. There are also many scholarships given just to a specific minority, as in, you can’t apply if you are anything but whatever race that scholarship is limited to. This amazes me because getting into a school or getting a scholarship should be based on grades and academic ability. It is unfair for a student to be prioritized just because of their minority. One student who is white that worked very hard for his A’s shouldn’t be left behind a Native American with C’s just because he wasn’t Native American.
I completely agree with all that you are saying about how our country tries to veer off from the idea of minorities, but still they feed off of it when giving out scholarships and accepting students into colleges. A lot of people I knew from high school who were white males had no chance of getting a scholarship because they were all focused on minorities and needs based. I completely understand that some people need more help than others, but I think that if any student is putting in the effort and receiving the grades then they should have the same opportunity as everyone else does.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree and sometimes people judge without realizing. Its just a habit and what everyone has grown up hearing will make people think a certain way about someone before talking to them. Its going to be hard to fix that, but but i agree with your statement. Also as far as scholarships I agree but I think that if a school just accepts the highest grades they might not get the diversity they feel is necessary in their university. But instances where I agree is like with my friend who attends Boston college right now. He got more money off than other people with better grades then him because he is 50% Spanish.
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of what you said but i disagree in the statement that discrimination and racism is"human nature" I know that wasn't exactly what you meant but i don't believe we naturally grow up noticing differences. It is a cultural thing. It someone was raised in a community in which there was the same percentage of every race around then. They could move somewhere without diversity and THAT would be an oddity. It isn't instilled in us to see differences and feel differently about people. It's a learned characteristic. good and bad.
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