The new admissions criteria using race, among other attributes, to select prospective students attempts to undermine historical prejudice by adding even more inequality. Weighing income as a more significant factor is beneficial because it assists economically disadvantaged students in furthering their education and creates a more diverse campus. However, focusing on race is detrimental to all current and prospective students.
Although the intent is to diversify our campus, using race as a factor in admissions is not only a patronizing practice, but it sends a distinctly racist message: Minorities are inferior and therefore need the extra help to ""level the playing field.""
This is racist on the most fundamental level. Racism is rooted in morally and intellectually depleted soil. It has allowed for the acceptance that specific traits are directly related to racial identity. Hence, when prospective students are evaluated, their achievements are seen through the lens of race while neglecting other more important factors not related to race or ethnicity.
Unfortunately, for too long throughout human history people have bought into this simplistic, narrow-minded bigotry.
By choosing students on the basis of race, our university would demolish a massive pillar in the infrastructure of future, enhanced racial equality.
Furthermore, any system that pins ethnic groups against one another by having them vie for the same objective only generates resentment and serves to fuel and reinforce any pre-existing racial tensions. Examples can be seen on this campus, for instance, students discussing admissions of old high school classmates and maliciously say, ""This girl was so dumb, but she was a minority so that's why she got into Princeton.""
Even though this may not be equivalent to outright prejudice, the seeds of racism are sown in resentment. Although the racism may not be explicit, it still continues as it subliminally lingers in public consciousness.
What's worse is this initiative is arrogantly masquerade around under the veil of ""social justice."" Social justice entails equal treatment of all individuals. It doesn't mean bureaucracies can pat certain groups on the head and send them away with a treat because of their genetics.
This is not to say we have overcome racial hurdles in the United States, but enacting this measure will not act as the proverbial ""white out"" quick fix to our country's epic typo called racism.
People should be rewarded for their achievements along with the hardships they endured and overcame, which means using economic and personal history as admission criteria is a fair alternative. Adding race into the mix only undermines how far many of these people have come and how far they hope to go.
Moreover, taking economic status and personal history into account allows UW-Madison to be sensitive to the hardships of students without patronizing them. When either personal hardship or economic disadvantage are present in the lives of students, energy and time that could be used for school and other involvement is instead siphoned into dealing with such crises. These two factors have a profound impact on a prospective student's life.
The universal solution to prejudice starts with the individual making the choice to value character over color. If enough people do this, it will create a basis for the rejection of the old, backward idea of race as the cause of specific traits and accomplishments. If this ever does occur then we will truly have reached social justice.
