Enrollment issue of race, not minority The
Daily Bruin should be careful in its use of the word
“minority” when discussing the pressing issue of
affirmative action and the declining enrollment of students of
color (“UC’s minority enrollment issue needs
attention,” Oct. 28). Using “minority” implies
that the lack of students of color is due to the small number of
these individuals in the state, and thus a smaller number
enrolling. Nothing could be further from the truth. American
Indian, black, Chicana/o and certain Asian Pacific Islander groups
are underrepresented because they are particularly ““ but not
exclusively ““ affected by social, political and economic
issues. There is no simple solution because there is no single
source of the problem. The only answer to such a complex problem is
a solution addressing issues such as cultural relevancy in our high
school curriculum, a dependable social safety net for individuals
of low socioeconomic status regardless of citizenship or residency
and reinvestment in public education. We need affirmative action
until we achieve these goals, but it is not a final solution.
Emmanuel Martinez Class of 2005
Student merit should stand alone The recent
editorial detailing why Proposition 209 “needs to go”
(“UC’s minority enrollment issue needs
attention,” Oct. 28) is disturbing. Declining enrollment
rates are not rational justification for affirmative action. It is
overtly racist to associate a person’s value with skin color.
It is not “blind” to judge a person’s worth for
admission solely on his or her accomplishments. Race is not a kind
of accomplishment. Race as such is not something to be celebrated.
It is not a blanket idea to be universally accepted or appreciated.
Individual ideas that come from a race are what is truly valuable.
Affirmative action is a moral and logical travesty. It is
irrational to enroll someone based on an unrelated qualification.
Advocates of affirmative action fail to comprehend that the roots
of minority enrollment problems do not lie in the University of
California admissions process. They ignore reality and argue that
giving this handout would actually help people, when such policies
would only propagate racism and devalue academic merit. Students
should be admitted to UC schools based on the judgment of their
individual achievements and not skin colors. Gary Hagins
Third-year biology student
Whites lacking in UC representation The views
of professor Sylvia Hurtado reported in “Spotlighting
affirmative action” (News, Oct. 28), that the proportions of
minorities at UCLA better reflect those of the state as a whole, is
not a new one. Though it’s previously been the rallying cry
of minority activists with more lung capacity than sense, support
for such a ridiculous idea from a professor ““ much less an
education professor ““ is still a little shocking. If the
racial proportions in the University of California were indeed made
to “better represent” those of the state, there would
be one massive change: the displacement of 37,591 more qualified
students of other races with white students, because it turns out
they are in fact the most underrepresented racial group, in their
local and state contexts. Now, yes, at UCLA and several other
campuses, there would be a strong increase in black and Chicana/o
admissions. But if diversity proponents like Hurtado are truly
serious about this idea of racial representation, they’re
going to have to get used to a lot more white kids at the UC.
Andrew Jones President, Bruin Alumni
Association