THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 9, 1995 TAG: 9508090002
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Another View
SOURCE: BY PAMELA BROWN
LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
To the Republicans, affirmative action is a system which has outlived its usefulness, an exemplary example of government waste.
For me, it means the opportunity to continue my education and pursue my goals.
I am a Jerome C. Holland scholar at the University of Virginia and a National Achievement Scholar. Both of these are minority-based scholarships, affirmative action at work. Without them I would not be going to college at all because my family cannot afford to send me.
My scholarships are my opportunity.
In this country, our democratic ideal is based on equal opportunity for all citizens. Affirmative action provides just that for many families like mine.
It took my grandfather 50 years to get his bachelor of science degree in Mississippi. He started teaching electronics at Mississippi Valley State University and several years later managed to earn his degree. He had no hope of doing it the other way around. That was before affirmative action.
Generations of blacks, including my parents' generation, fought hard for their basic rights as citizens. Opportunities were few, and those who got them were often ill prepared for the pressures that came with them. When affirmative action helped them into colleges and jobs, most had to work hard to overcome their substandard educational backgrounds and to catch up to their mainstream counterparts.
So in 1995, finally, for my family and many others like us, affirmative action is just starting to have an effect. Now we have opportunity, but more than that, we are prepared for it.
With the black community struggling so hard against crime and violence, drugs and a virtual disappearance of family structure, it is inconceivable to me that anyone would say that we don't need affirmative action.
Providing opportunity for one does not mean denying opportunity for another. It provides a chance to compete, and to win or lose on individual merits. Remember, affirmative action also welcomes nonminorities into minority institutions with a view toward giving all Americans the chance to experience the diversity of this country.
We do not live in a colorblind society, and we never have. On a personal level, when the government becomes colorblind to inequality in this country, I'm afraid that it will become blind to me and lots of people just like me. MEMO: Ms. Brown is a 1995 graduate of Western Branch High School who will
attend the University of Virginia in the fall on a full minority
scholarship.
by CNB