People of color, especially African Americans, have suffered of socially constructed institutions and environments, thus facing unequal treatment in this country. Which is why affirmative action is a concept crucial to have. It allows there to be equity in order to create equality amongst people of different races and color. In the documentary film Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, we see history of black people in education. The risking of lives for equal treatment and civil rights movement try to reform the social construct. This allowed minority-serving institutions to rise which stirred up the idea of separate but equal. Affirmative action is an equity-based practice and there cannot be equality until there is equity since not all people have the same tools to get where needed or desired.
With centuries of slavery and segregation, it is no surprise that we have come to pander the white Americans. In Peggy Mcintoshs article, White Privilege and Male Privilege, it is noted that there are different types of privilege, including societal experience, evolutionary pressures, social responsibility, religion, etc. By allowing society that goes without
questioning the virtues and entitlement of people, we allow the oppression towards minority to continue. The denial of these privileges protects peoples right to these unearned advantages. Being oblivious or unconscious about these things is what feed the idea of a color-blind society. Some may argue that affirmative action is racist, because as Sigal Alon from Race, Class, and Affirmative Action: What Is Class-Based Affirmative Action? said, affirmative action has become synonymous with race-conscious admissions policies. However, according to the basic tenets of critical race theory, racism is ordinary. Race is a thing we have socially constructed, and even without affirmative action, it is subtly taken into consideration. And if race is not acknowledged, racism is hard to deal. This country was founded on slavery, which has engraved this concept of superior superiority and lead to microaggression. A color-blind society doesnt work for this reason as for it doesnt accept race as part of ones character but rather just believes in judging by ones character. Race affects the way we grow up. Hence, it is crucial to understand race, especially since it all already part of our society and daily lives.