Jo'ie Taylor
The debate over affirmative action pulls me in a lot of different directions and a lot of different emotions. As somebody who has personally benefited from affirmative action and sees affirmative action as a way, a proactive step to level the playing field for people of color and women.
I grew up in Los Angeles, California, so for me it definitely has benefited students and people of color and women in the state of California.
And post-Proposition 209 and post- Standard Policies 1 & 2, in the University of California system, you have seen a major decline in students of color in important and well known universities like University of California, Berkeley and UCLA. So I think looking at states like California and Texas and Florida and Washington where affirmative action is no longer in place, you definitely can tell why it's needed and how it does benefit people of color and women.
I think the debate around affirmative action particularly how people are framing it in terms of diversity, that using race isnt really creating a diverse campus or a diverse nation--it infuriates me. I just think that it's ridiculous not to say that using race in admissions or recruitment and retention is important because racism is a factor in the United States, in higher education, and in employment, so eliminating race is saying that racism doesnt exist; and with hate crimes, racial profiling, it's definitely relevant, you know, we see it every day.
My name is Jo'ie Taylor I'm the President of the United States Student Association I am a graduate of University of Pittsburgh.
