The Importance of Affirmative Action and
Access to Financial Aid
By Jill Jenkins
When I was a
child, my mother told me that women had three choices in life: to find a
husband, get married and raise his children, to learn to type and take
shorthand and become a secretary, or to become a factory worker. My mother’s
limited view of the world made it difficult for her to imagine a life beyond
her neighborhood. I chose to go to college and become a teacher, an opportunity
that was only afforded me because of Lyndon Johnson’s dream of “A Great Society,”
a system of low interest loans, the National Defense Loan and later the
National Direct Loan available to low income students. Today’s students are
often buried in loans because student loans have become privatized. During my
college years, students who taught in Title One schools had their loans
forgiven. Since my loan had only a
three percent interest rate, I paid it off as scheduled. Racial discrimination limit many
minority students. To alleviate this John F. Kennedy signed an executive order
in 1961 creating Affirmative Action forcing universities and colleges to
integrate. Today, some Ivy League
Schools often select wealthy African American students to make their quota
instead of selecting students who lack the resources to attend college. What is fair? Even if the country added a financial
component to Affirmative Action, more impoverished White students live in areas
with better schools than those of impoverished African American students. Better schools means better prepared
students. To level the playing
field, a combination of Affirmative Action and more grants and affordable loans
should be instituted. American poor need more grants, low interest loans and
Affirmative Action to widen the view of all of our youth. Unfortunately, like my mother, many
children’s view of the world are limited. What happens to these students is best described in Langston
Hughes’ poem “Harlem:”
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up like
A raisin in the sun
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
Like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it sags
Like a heavy load?
Or does it explode?
What I discovered by teaching in a variety of different socio-economic levels is our schools are not a level playing field. Students from economically deprived groups, students from different ethnic or racial groups and from different
cultures cannot compete fairly for enrollment in any college or university (let
alone an Ivy League School); as a result, both adequate financial aide and
Affirmative Action needs to be available. What I have learned is students who have no hope of
financially supporting their families through legitimate means turn to crime. What I have learned is both males and
females need a strong education to have access to more fulfilling careers and
the greater opportunities for financial stability. (Let’s face it, marriage is never guaranteed to last
forever, nor does it always provide economic stability.) What I have learned is people who are
well educated are happier and live more economically secure lives. As a result, they are more likely to become a more involved citizen.
President
Trump’s talk of dismantling Affirmative Action could have catastrophic effects. First, intelligence isn’t limited to
one socio-economic group or one racial group. By limiting opportunities, America would be wasting some of
the most creative and innovative minds.
Second, providing real hope and opportunity, reduces an individual’s likelihood
of becoming involved in crime; thus, reducing the strongholds gangs have on
some neighborhoods. Third, education increases the potential that an individual
will achieve economic stability, a happy, healthy view of government and a
higher likelihood he will become an active voting citizen. This means less likely to become “a
raisin in the sun”, a rotting sore or “ exploding” with violence.
If
all students were competing on a level playing field, perhaps there would be no
need for Affirmative Action or Financial Aid, but the truth is they
aren’t. I have taught in affluent
schools where students live in houses filled with books and computers, their
families travel the world, and their lives are enriched with private coaches,
voice lessons, music lessons and they participate in an assortment of academic,
artistic and athletic enrichment activities. Some attend private schools whose classmates come from the
wealthiest families and the academic demands far exceed public schools. I’ve taught in inner city public
schools where a student often works eight to ten hours a night after school in
a minimum wage job to help support his/her family. One student whose parents were both incarcerated went to
school full-time, and worked full-time to support himself and four younger
siblings. These students are not
lazy. They are over-coming huge
hurdles. Money can buy almost
anything in America. One year I
was charged with selecting and preparing the graduation speakers. An assistant
principal presented me with the name of one student and told me to make certain
she was selected as a speaker because her parents had offered to donate money
for the sports team. This was a public high school. I could have followed the order, but instead created an
evaluation rubric and selected three faculty members and three students to
judge those seeking speaking positions.
Then, to insure a fair contest, I had the class officers tabulate the
scores. The corruption of money is
everywhere. The racial prejudice in this country makes their difficulty even more arduous. Racial discrimination is even more prevalent. As a drama teacher, I
took heat from my principal for casting Alice in Alice in Wonderland with
an African American student, because some parents complained that she did not "fit" the part. As a debate coach in
Southern California, my debate team was comprised of many African-American and
Hispanic students. I would remind
them that it was not enough to be as good as their adversary, they had to be
undeniably better. Unfortunately,
in American, people see color before they hear what the students are
saying.
When
thinking about the effects of lack of hope, I am reminded of Charles Dickens’
novel Oliver Twist. In
the book, Fagin has collects a group of homeless children and trains them as
pickpockets in order to exploit them for his own financial gain. To persuade young Oliver to join their
illegal trade, Fagin employs Charlie Bates and the Artful Dodger to testify to
the advantages. Like the Artful
Dodger, peer pressure and the lack of hope encourage some students to become
involved in crime to better themselves. These students believe that their only future is a part time
minimum wage job with no benefits or welfare may like Charlie Bates and the
Artful Dodger believe that crime is a better alternative and holds more self-respect
than allowing his family to become homeless and hungry. As a result, they steal, sell drugs and
participate in gang activities. Prejudice and economic insecurity land more
people in prison than college. The United States has the highest number of
incarcerations in the world for a reason.
That same child would become a productive member of society if he/she
were give the opportunity to get a good education, and a well paying job. More
of those incarcerated are members of minority groups. Affirmative action could lower the
crime rate and the incarcerations, saving everyone money.
Finally
our founding fathers believed that access to a free public education could
create a more enlightened voter.
In today’s world to be successful, a K-12 education is not enough. If we want an enlightened citizen who
feels compelled to participate as a thoughtful voter, we need to provide
affordable, opportunities for students of every racial and economic group. People, who feel powerless in a
society, do not participate in it.
Affirmative
action and financial assistance is important. I feel that President Trump’s view of the world is as narrow
as my mother’s. He believes
everyone should accept his/her birthplace in society. Some may say that only the most qualified should be accepted
to our colleges and universities; however, those with the money to afford a
private education for their children or donate a million dollars would have a
disproportionate advantage.
Intelligence and the advantages of wealth is not the same thing. Creating a wealthy elite with exclusive
access to higher education is not the America our fore fathers imagined.
Educational opportunities provide those downtrodden with hope and a pathway to
economic securities, a more meaningful and happy life while reducing
crime. Education prepares people
to be responsible citizens.
Affirmative actions and financial assistance provide opportunities for a
brighter future.
