As the United States Supreme Court rightfully strikes down University of Michigan's 20 point system assisting minorities in gaining admission, but narrowly maintains some affirmative action policies, I wonder of what so many people (non minority people) are so afraid? Though I disagree with some aspects of affirmative action, it is difficult for me to sympathize with Jennifer Gratz (the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit against University of Michigan) and others like her. Like Gratz, I grew up in a middle class, hardworking family. I was top of my class, involved in every extracurricular activity, and confident of a bright future. Unlike Gratz, however, as a black girl I was raised with the expectation that because of my skin color I must work twice as hard to get the opportunities I wanted and that I would give 150% to make the most of each. Gratz (growing up white and female), who only applied to the University of Michigan, was obviously never given the "work twice as hard" speech by her parents. Or, for that matter, the one about not putting all of your eggs in one basket.
Gratz, described as the "golden face" of her yearbook, with a 3.8 GPA, was the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against the University of Michigan. The lawsuit alleged that Michigan's admissions requirements discriminate against race - the white race. As Gratz is white, she did not receive the 20 points that minorities get on their application. For this, Gratz is claiming that she was denied her dream to attend her dream college. "I can't tell you exactly how my life would be different, because I wasn't given the opportunity," said Gratz in a recent article. I don't think Gratz understands just how many thousands or millions of black people have been saying that very same thing their whole lives, but to little avail until now.
For several generations, blacks and other minorities from in all walks of life, from the projects to those from upper-middle class society have been hearing the work twice as hard speech. For those who have heeded the advice of their sage parents, those efforts have paid off. And when many black students before and after Mrs. Gratz, who like her have been the "golden faces" of their yearbooks, have been denied their dream opportunity, they have been forced to move on just like her. So Gratz was forced to take a different route to her dreams. Affirmative action is not responsible for this detour. In life, as many black people have had the learned the hard way, we are not entitled. No matter what her application was, she was no more entitled to attend the University of Michigan than the next person. What right did she have to expect guaranteed admission?
Gratz's sense of entitlement to attend the University of Michigan shows that even with the affirmative action in our society, white people are still unfamiliar with the harsh ways of life. Because black people have been used to being let down longer, we understand that line in the Mick Jagger song, "you can't always get what you want." With affirmative action and programs like it, the entitlement sentiment is now reversed. White people are for the first time seeing places long held for them lose their "reserved" signs. As affirmative action now becomes a force to now be reckoned with among whites, they can no longer rest on their laurels and let the numbers speak for them. Whereas before, excellent candidates where shoo-ins, they may now have to consider that a minority may take their spot, even if they don't look as good on paper. Atmospheres can't be engineered, says Ms. Gratz. Oh, they can too, and have been for years. Only thing is, now the architecture has been restructured to include more non-whites.
For the first time, white people are burdened to consider that black people can be an asset to a campus or an environment because of their race. Even though I am against discrimination, I can't say that I disagree. Being a minority in situations can add value-even 20 points worth. We do apparently still think quite differently than many of our white counterparts as evidenced by Gratz reaction to her disappointment. Ask several black people today if they still follow the "we must work twice as hard creed" and those who are expecting to go places will undoubtedly tell you yes. Ask if they still hear they ol', "don't put all of your eggs in one basket" rule, and again you will hear a yes. "I don't think affirmative action has made black people more lackadaisical about competition and college, but it has opened the doors to many opportunities that we have never had before," says Aaron Jackson a graduate of the University of Oklahoma. I agree that Gratz and many others like her have the right to be dismayed at opportunity lost. That they lost their opportunity to a deserving minority seems to be another issue all together. Being black has always meant adaptation and now it seems that to be white in our society is coming to mean the same thing. Perhaps the best way for the future Gratz's of our country to approach our new-found society that embraces the value of skin color rather than reject it is to embrace some of our old principles on life: always be ready and willing to work twice as hard; don't put all of your eggs in one basket; and finally, when one door closes, another one opens. (But, maybe that is what whites are so afraid of.)