In class, Justyce and his peers discuss affirmative action. Using points made in Justyce's class and any life experience you may have, explain whether or not you support affirmative action.

When Justice is accepted at Yale, his accomplishment is devalued by Jared, who suggests that the only reason that Jus got in was affirmative action. Affirmative action is an attempt by admissions committees to counter the effects of systemic racism in order to create an equal playing field for all applicants. Jared believes this process is unfair. In Societal Evolution class, Jared asserts: "'Let's observe, shall we? I'm ranked number two in our class, I'm captain of the baseball team, I do community service on weekends, and I got higher test scores than Justyce. . . yet he got into Yale early action, and I didn't. I know for a fact it's because I'm white and he's black'" (59). After the class criticizes Jared for assuming that his test scores are higher than Jus's—it turns out that their test scores are about equal—Jared maintains that even if he and Jus had equivalent applications, his place will still be taken by other minority students.

However, not every student at Bras Prep is against affirmative action. SJ argues against Jared and reminds him of the privileges they have access to as Bras Prep students: "'Tuition includes laptops, tablets, and access to more scholarly databases than most colleges have; we've got the most current editions of all college-level textbooks; our library is like . . . I can't even tell you; we have test prep courses built into our curriculum from the moment we start ninth grade; and I'm pretty sure like ninety-seven percent of the teachers at this school are PhDs'" (62). She asks Jared to consider another student, who goes to a school that does not have the same resources: "'He lives in a really crummy area and goes to a public school that has fifteen-year-old textbooks and no computers. Most of the teachers are fresh out of college and leave after a year'" (62-3). This student does not achieve the same caliber of test scores and GPA as the other student. If you only look at test scores and GPAs, the student from Bras Prep is more likely to get into a good college. However, SJ argues, this is not entirely fair. In her point of view, admissions committees must also consider the effects of systemic racism when deciding whether to admit a student.

The last part of your question calls for your opinion.