For the past few weeks, I have read interesting discussions about affirmative action. I, myself, am a minority in society. My parents came to America from Laos (located in Asia) not more than 25 years ago, three years before I was born.

Yes, my parents did struggle to make it in this country, as did I in my early years of schooling. I know first hand what it is like to be the only person in a class who isn’t white. I went to a predominantly white school and still made it to where I am today on my own merits and hard work.

However, I have to disagree with affirmative action. Everyone in society wants to be treated equally, without regard to skin color, sex, gender, sexual orientation, age, etc. If that is the case, then why is affirmative action still in place? How can you compare yourself to others as being equal when you have a stepping stool to where you are now?

President Johnson introduced affirmative action in 1965 as a method of redressing discrimination that had persisted in spite of civil rights laws and constitutional guarantees that all men are created equal.

Thus, affirmative action was put in place to make sure that minorities aren’t treated unfairly because of the color of their skin color or sex. Turn the tables for a minute and pretend you are a white male who has repeatedly tried to get into medical school, but has been refused two years in a row.

The school accepts 100 students each year, with 16 spots reserved for minority students. How would you feel if you were rejected two years in a row by a medical school that accepted less qualified minority applicants?

The scenario mentioned actually occurred and was brought to the Supreme Court in 1978 (Regents of the University of California v. Bakke). The Supreme Court actually ruled against affirmative action because the policy discriminated against a white male.

Currently, my younger brother is attending Tennessee State University, a historically black college, and is on a minority scholarship. How does that make you feel that my brother is going to school and getting the same education as you are, but paying less tuition for it? What makes him any different from anyone else: The color of his skin.

While most college students work long hours during the summer or take out loans to be able to afford college tuition, others are taking advantage of scholarships because of their skin color (mind you, my brother is on a minority scholarship at TSU, but he also has loans and is in the Marine Reserves).

Affirmative action does create segregation by focusing only on minorities. It also discriminates because more qualified people are turned down for admission to schools or promotions for jobs just because of the color of their skin.

Many school and job applications rarely ask for anyone’s race (if it does, it’s always optional). By keeping affirmative action, society continues to segregate and discriminate based on skin color. Many organizations have been formed to help minority groups to become equal in America, but is affirmative action really helping that cause? How can anyone become equal when they have special treatment just because of their skin color?

Yes, minorities were treated unequally in the past, but this is the present (I’m not saying that there still isn’t discrimination in society today). Affirmative action segregates because of skin color. If you truly want to live life and know that you have worked hard to get to where you are, then maybe affirmative action isn't the answer.

I agree with Robby Appleton’s usage of Dr. Martin Luther King’s quote: “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

That is what I personally want to see: for everyone to have an equal place in society regardless of what they are, but based on who they are and their character.

Gregory Sirising is a senior Communications major from Smyrna.