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diff --git a/article/affirmative-action.txt b/article/affirmative-action.txt deleted file mode 100644 index bd320cc..0000000 --- a/article/affirmative-action.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,85 +0,0 @@ -Subject: Affirmative Action -From: Andrew Yu <andrew@andrewyu.org> -Message-Id: <CTWUQHND92OE.31YJ2FM2GHPTB@andrewyu> -Date: Sat, 08 Jul 2023 14:14:28 +0000 -Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 -X-Mailer: aerc 0.14.0 -X-Article-ID: 21 - -(Slightly modified for "publication") - -(Actually, no, this is just insanely badly written. I'll rewrite it -sometime.) - -(Update: check https://git.runxiyu.org/runxiyu/philo.git/plain/affirmative-action/) - -Here is my attempt at the Harvard/UNC affirmative action question, -though I can't guarantee it's comprehensive, objective or developed, and -the language here is deadly plain. Be aware that there's a fair bit of -ethics, political philosophy and (minimal but still) US politics ahead. -Also, since I'm Asian myself (of course, disadvantaged under the AA -policies), perhaps I'm biased. - -Firstly, let me declare my unconventional "stance". I believe that -affirmative action based on race is generally useless and may backfire; -however if I were a supreme court justice, I would vote with the -Liberals, to not interfere with the affirmative action policies of the -universities. - -I'll start with why I believe that the court shouldn't interfere with -the universities' policies. Harvard and UNC are private universities. -They have their own ideals, and as long as they're not causing active -harm to society (in my opinion, that'd be violating other people's -negative liberty in the traditional interpretation by Isaiah Berlin—I am -aware that there are paradoxes but it's the closest to a consistent -theory of political philosophy that I can reach for now). Simply -speaking, the students they admit is irrelevant to the government/state. -If we consider public universities on the other hand, then sure. The -government funds them, is supposed to set their goals and policies, and -is responsible for their admissions and could rightfully implement -policies that they see fit, but for private educational institutions, my -"small government" mindset comes in. - -However, there are interesting arguments surrounding how "elite" -universities such as Harvard, and to some extent UNC, have substantial -social impact on society, as they are more or less a standard in -defining tertiary education in the US and globally. Other educational -institutions may follow their policies in attempts to bring themselves -to the prestigious "standard" that elite institutions set, these elite -universities are crucial in educational mobility, there might be -potential public investment, etc. However I still intuitively think that -the government shouldn't intervene, perhaps because of how in the US, -court cases set precedents, and a precedent of such intervention would -"allow" for government expansion and potential for the government to dip -their feet into more private business. - -Now I'll briefly argue why I believe that affirmative action based on -race is generally useless and may backfire. There are three main reasons -that I could think of for affirmative action, I'll describe my opinion -on each, one by one. - -First, that affirmative action promotes diversity. I (personally) think -that diversity is an insufficient reason to be potentially racially -discriminating (people with the same academic capability may be -rejected/admitted based on racial quotas, which may be considered a form -of discrimination based on factors that they couldn't control). - -Second, that affirmative action adjusts for educational inequality. I -haven't fact-checked this, but perhaps it's true that African-Americans, -on average, live in poorer communities and have lesser access to good -secondary education. Therefore their grades cannot fully reflect their -academic potential, and universities admissions should compensate for -that. Now aside from how this feels patronizing, race is no longer a -good measure of "lack of educational resources due to financial -situations/etc", with the existence of quite affluent African-American -families. Affirmative action (if any) for -educational-inequality-adjustment could be better implemented by looking -at education and financial situations themselves, not race. - -Third, that affirmative action compensates for past wrongs. Having what -people's ancestors do affect them negatively present-day feels awkward, -although arguably people benefitting from the achievements of their -ancestors means that they also need to take relevant responsibilities. - -Anyways, here are my thoughts… a bit incomplete but might be -interesting. Cheers! |