Today in the United States, we live in a society that is ostensibly nondiscriminatory. As the centuries have gone by, our country has only progressed to be inclusive of all races in almost every aspect of life; a seemingly ridiculous prospect to the Founding Fathers and early citizens of America. Even though the Framers of the Constitution added the phrase “all men were created equal”, this actually meant that all white men were created equal. And thus the result for the African Americans in the country was decades of slavery, segregation, and total discrimination--even in courts of law. Native Americans were forced to surrender land they’d thrived on for hundreds of years, and even some white immigrants had a lower place in society. But since the revolutionary civil rights movement, racism has faded into the corners of society, and reparations have even been made to compensate individuals of races that were discriminated against in the past. This concept of affirmative action has been controversial from the start and has strayed far from its original intent, which was to create equal opportunity for minorities.

In his most famous speech, Martin Luther King Jr. proclaimed his desire that his “four little children would one day live in a nation where they would not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” While he would certainly be proud at how society has developed, it may not be exactly what he had in mind. Affirmative action has started to create a double standard -- and perhaps even reverse discrimination -- in the workplace. Countless companies have hiring goals or quotas to reach a certain percentage of black, Hispanic, or Asian workers, all for the purpose of “creating a diverse working environment.” In this process, qualifications for the job seem to fall second to race or ethnicity. A white worker may have equal or perhaps superior qualifications to a black applicant, only to be turned down because of the color of his skin. I find this to be ironic, considering the goal of affirmative action was to ensure that all applicants are employed and treated without regard to their race.

The workplace, however, is not the only source of biased selections. School admissions generate possibly the most cases of unfair acceptances, with ivy league schools clearly expressing their intents on enrolling diverse classes. In fact, Harvard’s most recent class of students is composed of mostly minorities. Since 2010, the ivy league school demographic data has shown a trend of decreasing acceptance rates for whites and Asians, and increasing acceptance rates for blacks and Hispanics. As if the statistics weren’t enough, the experience of Vijay Chokal-Ingam is sure to raise a few eyebrows. Ingam, a bright Indian student with exceptional grades and test scores dreamed of becoming a doctor. But, he was shocked when his Indian friend, who was a year older and had better scores than Ingam, applied to multiple medical schools and was accepted to none of them. Ingam knew he had a slim chance at being accepted, so decided to shave his head, change his name to “Jojo”, and fill in his race as “African American” in his college application. Needless to say, he was accepted to the St. Louis School of Medicine; largely because of his race. It seems that, in many cases, the color of someone’s skin takes precedence over merit when applying to universities. Would this be truly considered “equal opportunity”?

Affirmative action has grown contradictory to its purpose, and benefits a few racial groups and individuals at the expense of many others. This causes strong opposition from Asian-Americans and whites, while also reinforcing negative stereotypes about the proficiency of African-Americans, Native Americans, and Hispanics. When reviewing the results of affirmative action, racial division and discrimination seem to outweigh the “equality” that the program offers. In a society that supposedly does not judge or favor people based on their race, I believe that this counter-intuitive practice has no place, and is a setback to true equality.