Affirmative Action: Necessary or not?

I wholeheartedly believe that affirmative action is needed in our communities. For educational purposes, not everyone has the opprotunities that others have in order to succeed. Lots of people have parents that went to college or just stress its importance to their kids on a daily basis. Some parents, on the other hand, believe that education isn't very important, or need their kids to drop school in order to help them. I have overheard people talking at school saying stuff like "I didn't go to school yesterday because I had to watch my little brother". These are the families I am talking about.

Of course, there are people who have several doors open for a good education and money to do it, yet they just don't give a damn. Affirmative action should take that into consideration. Maybe there are reasons for not caring about education, and they should educate students on it's importance and instill it into them at a young age, as many parents do.

Even though we do have an African-American president, it doesnt end racism in our country. I have heard several people say during the election they are not voting for Obama because of his race. He still won, but that doesnt mean that those people are won over. Racism still exists, whether we like it or not. Sadly, there are some employers, that if forced to choose between two people, will pick the white person. There are universities that select only a small number of applicants and will pick a greater number of caucasions. This is absolutely not fair. Anybody, regardless of race, should have opporotunities to succeed in life.

Stereotypes such as "black people and latinos are lazy and don't work hard" are just that way for a reason. The discrimination and the way they are forced to live affect them greatly. Imagine a Latino boy born in the Projects, being surrounded by gangs and drugs and poverty. He's going to see his mother suffering to pay the rent, he's going to see gangbangers get rich from selling weed. There will be no stressing of a good education, and he could drop out of school if he wanted to without any repurcussions. This influences him into thinking that school will get him nowhere, that he will stay the way he is forever. He's going to think he won't need a good education if he can just sell drugs to make a living. Yes, Barack Obama being president makes minorities feel hopeful that they can succeed in life, yet just the fact that our president is an ethnic minority doesn't change the people out there who think that minorities can't do anything.

Yes, Koreans have the same background as several minorities, yet they all seem to do well in school and succeed. By my knowledge, Korean parents are adament about their kids recieving a good eduction, and pressure them into doing better and going above and beyond. The cultural difference IS what makes the difference. Korean immigrants do tend to work minimum wage jobs and not have very much money, yet their culture proceeds them to drill this sense of working hard and getting a good education in order to succeed. This is what sets them apart from other minorities.

These people should be able to succeed if they choose too, and hopefully all will become motivated by proper teaching. Nobody will learn if it is thrust in their face, so at an early age they should be taught and make learning and a want to succeed a habitual thing. Once taught, these skills should be maintained through continuous teaching throughout their educational career. Hopefully, over time, we will see more minorities in power through motivation and a want to succeed in life and overcome their hard past.