So my "progressive" friends want to keep affirmative action, saying we must create inequality to create equality. We must go backward to go forward.
My liberal classmates believe that affirmative action is in place to create equality for minorities because they don't have the same opportunities as whites. OK, let's just accept this, and let's add affirmative action to sports.
Recruitment to a college or professional team should not be based only on athletic ability, strength and speed, but the player's ethnicity and life experience.
There are not enough white or Asian people in sports today, especially in proportion to the population of our country. That is, white and Asian people are an under-represented "minority" in college and professional sports. Most collegiate and professional sports are dominated by minorities, who are the majority in these sports.
The best players in football are black, and with Michael Vick and Donovan McNabb, the dominance of white quarterbacks is over. Vick is just way too good. And, how many Asian quarterbacks or tailbacks have you seen in the pros?
Baseball is ruled by Hispanics and Barry Bonds: He is 38 years old but can still crush home runs like no other. There is no end to the limitation of black athletes. There are a few Asian baseball players breaking into the pros but certainly not enough.
Basketball also is dominated by blacks. With the exception of Dirk Nowitzki, there is not a wicked white player in the sport. The rest of the white players are just goofy.
Other than Yao Ming, how many Asians play pro ball? One thing I do know, Penn State's men's basketball wouldn't suffer from a more ethnically diverse team.
Track and Field: What can I say? White men can't jump.
Boxing: White people have Butterbean, an overweight, middle-aged bald guy. Unfortunately, I can't list the black and Hispanic boxers; there's not enough space.
OK, so hockey still has a lot of whites, but most are Canadian. Just put Buster Douglas, Mike Tyson and Oscar De La Hoya on ice skates and it's all over for those Canadians. I bet the sport would get a whole lot more interesting, too.
Black people are just too good in sports. On average, they jump higher and run faster; whites and Asians just don't stand a chance because of athletic prejudices against them. Unless we implement affirmative action into our sports programs to let the under-athletic white, Asian, (and in some cases Hispanic) athletes have the same opportunity black athletes enjoy, we won't enjoy equality and diversity in sports. Black athletes would certainly benefit from getting to know a more diverse group of athletes.
I'm all for allowing black, Asian and Hispanic athletes to use affirmative action to break into sports dominated by whites such as crew, fencing, angling, NASCAR and monster truck rally.
Whites and Asians don't have enough heroes to look up to that are in their favorite sports. Because the most popular sports are dominated by blacks and Hispanics, we must logically conclude that whites and Asians don't get the same opportunity, and thus affirmative action must be implemented in athletics. We must give other ethnicities a fair chance at sports. We must create an inequality of talent to create equality in diversity.
I hope you recognize how ludicrous this argument has been. The athletes at our school and in pro sports are chosen for their ability, just as they should be -- not because they might or might not have been discriminated against.
Scouts don't make racist assumptions -- they just look at how good the players are. They don't make social or ethnic excuses for how poorly the athlete performs. The sports world doesn't care if you are white, black, Hispanic or purple, they want you because you are great.
Affirmative action in education takes away from those students who excel in school. If you have it for education, the same logic would dictate it must be present in athletics. I am for neither; I want to see the best and brightest in school and the strongest and fastest in the stadium, and I don't care about their color.
