Horace Mann, an American politician and education reformer, once said that “Education, beyond all other devices of human oigin, is the great equalizer of the conditions of men, the balance-wheel of the social machinery” While Horace Mann was specifically talking about issues of class, we can also attribute education as the great equalizer of class’s sister social hierarchy- race. The path of the “great equalizer is, of course, not equal. Universities, especially Ivy league universities, are traditionally white, male, and wealthy. So what can we do to get those facing barriers of class and race to the great equalizer in the first place? We can push for Affirmative Action laws that require universities to look beyond these barriers. Due to the systematic oppression and marginalization of people of color, Affrmative Action is both necessary for evening out the playing field for those who who lack access to resources, and imperative for ensuring that universities are not limiting their spaces to only those without the sOcial and economic barriers of race.
One of the easiest ways to look at racial inequality in universities, without even getting into the sociological aspects of racial inequality and institutional racism, is by just looking at the numbers. In 2014, Wall Street Journal’s Phil Izzo looked at data from the National Center for Educational Statistics in regards to race and college enrollment. While the data shows a convergence of enrollment since the creation of basic Affrmative Action in March of 1961, it is clear the the process has been long and consistently inequal. White students have had a steady rise from 50 to 709% of high school graduates going to to high education, but black and hispanic enrollments over time have not held that same pattern (lzzo, 2014). Hispanic enrollment percentages specifically show to be fairly erratic, rising and falling with the lowest percentage at about 40%, the highest at 70%, and a median of around 50-55%.
Black enrollment has had a similar pattern of rising and falling., with a lowest percentage of just under 40% and a highest at just under 70%. So what does this inconsistency in rise for people of color tell us when set next to a consistent rise for white students? For one, the data shows that there is a historic and consistently higher enrollment in higher education of white people than people of color. It also shows us that statistical consistency of enrollment in general is not something that is held by communities of color. Without consisterncy, the changes of moving on to higher education as a person of color is always in flux, while the changes stay pretty much the same – or steadily get higher -for a white person. On a positive note, the gains of Affirmative Action over time are also clear here, and are (while quite slowly) resulting in more enrollment equality.
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Another necessity of Affirmative Action in college enrollment is the lack of resources for people of color vs white students. CNN’s Tanzina Vega wrote on some colleges, specifically the University of California, who “modified” their Affirmative Action stance to focus more on socioeconomic status rather than race. Unfortunately, this continued to result in less people of color, especially black individuals, geting into schools even if they met the requirements for low income students. While it is clear socioeconomic fact that a higher percentage of black individuals live in poverty than whites (27% vs 10%% according the Kaiser Family Foundation). more poor white individuals are admitted and given more access to resources (CNN, 2015). When a focus is put on poverty alone instead of on the relationship between class and race, poor whites are, as stated by Deborah Archer, the director of the Racial Justice Project and a professor at New York Law School, “going to get admitted in higher numbers”(CNN, 2015). This only continues the cycle of people of color being left in the dust, and kept away from gaining “the great equalizer”.
Affirmative Action in practice has had the power to completely reshape some education structures. For example, Jenny Umhofer of the Western Association For College Admissions Counseling, looked at the historically non-diverse university, Franklin & Marshall. Franklin & MArshall not only changed their admissions process to account for barriers of class, but also for barriers of race (Umhofer, 2016). Since bringing Affirmative Action into a forefront of their admissions, their diversity has increased rapidly and has allowed the college to make partnerships with charter schools and community organizations to ensure that students of all backgrounds gain a chance to reach the great equalizer. Their shift towards providing aid to low income and racially diverse students has completely transformed the college into a sought after school for both white students and people of color alike (Umhofer, 2016).
Of course, Affirmative Action is not without its faults, just as our apparent “post racial society” is not without clear inequalities. While Affirmative Action does assist in making huge strides for diversity and equal education, it is still a reflection of a society that is still highly separated and scarred with racism. As writer Dinesh D’Souza attempts to point out throughout the first chapter of his book, Iliberal Education, a space given to a person of color means that a space for a white student may be no longer available. But what is not spoken about in these writings is the aspect of institutional privilege, and more specifically the reaction that a privileged group may have when they feel some of that privilege lessening. In fact, because many while individuals do not see white privilege, or even see “white” as a race in the first place, they often will perceive a loss of privilege as a loss of rights (Fitzgerald, 16-17 & 37-41). This confusion, of course, results in beliefs that preferential treatment exists in certain institutional areas, even if the numbers tell us a much different story. This issue tells another important idea of Affirmative Action; It is not perfect because the society that created it is not perfect, but it is challenging institutional racism, keeping a conversation of race going. and is slowly resulting in a more equal path to the “great equalizer”.
In conclusion, Affirmative Action is both necessary for evening out the playing field for those who who lack access to resources, and imperative for ensuring that universities are not limiting their spaces to only those without the social and economic barriers of race. By providing resources and opportunities to people of color, specifically low income people of color, we can see transformations such as Franklin & Marshall, and pave the path for more people to gain the great equalizer of education. With an educated population of all races and backgrounds, our population can become both equal and stable.
