affirmative action
As a minority, I sometimes think about different stereotypes that I have to deal with on a regular basis. I am an African American muslim so there are a lot of struggles that I have to confront on a day to day basis. It is common for people to try and use different vocabulary in fear of offending me or treat me differently to make sure that I don’t view them as racist or unkind. The Hopwood v. Texas case caught my attention because, as a new college student interested in pursuing my college career at The University of Texas, I wouldn’t want the color of my skin or my ethnicity to be the reason for my admission or refusal. Affirmative action created a form of discrimination against a race that wasn’t used to being discriminated and Hopwood v. Texas opened the door for the abolishment of the affirmative action policy. In 1978, the case of Bakke v. Regents of the University of California ruled that “universities may consider race in admissions, to maintain diverse enrollment or to remedy past discrimination” (Laycock). The verdict in the Bakke case allowed The University of Texas to create a quota of different races allowed to attend the university. This policy of affirmative action in their enrollment process set the stage for the Hopwood v. Texas case. Affirmative action is defined as “various government policies that aim to increase the proportion of African-Americans, women and other minorities in jobs and educational institutions historically dominated by white men” (“affirmative action” def. 3). “The law school’s goal was to have an entering class that would be 5 per cent black and 10 per cent Mexican American” (Hentoff, 1). To be admitted to The University of Texas Law School. applicants would have to achieve a high score on their Law School Aptitude Test and have maintained a high grade point average. The standard that was set, however, varied greatly between the minority group and non-minority americans. For example a minority could receive an