Affirmative Action has been a controversial topic ever since it first became an executive order under President John F. Kennedy in 1961. The policy has been the subject of several court cases, including the 2003 Supreme Court decision Grutter v. Bollinger, which ceased higher educational institutions from considering race while evaluating applicants.
In a society where racial tensions are at an all-time high, due to nationally covered events such as Ferguson and the death of Sandra Bland, it’s not a surprise that one of the newest cases related to Affirmative Action, Fisher v. Texas, is a prime example of how the abuse of privilege and racism is reflected in mainstream society.
When Abigail Fisher was a senior in high school in 2008, she was heartbroken that her dream school, the University of Texas at Austin, rejected her. Seven years later, Fisher was determined to tell the country her story, and, furthermore, change the way that colleges accept applicants. Fisher is suing the university, claiming that she was rejected because she was white.
This is a perfect example of blatant racism and the ignorance that several white Americans have when it comes to the advantages their race have in this country. Fisher is suing because her inherent white privilege, which assists her in getting better jobs than minorities and supplies her with the luxury of not having to worry about being frisked by the police as often as African Americans, has failed her in this particular aspect of her life.
Instead of accepting the fact that she didn’t get into the University of Texas for several reasons other than her race (after Fisher first pulled the race card, the university swiftly denied the accusation, stating that her test scores and GPA were just too low for them to let her in) Fisher publicly blamed her miniscule problem on her minority peers who were more honorably qualified than her to get in.
Fisher is  plain selfish. She is acting like she was always meant to go to UT – as if she was entitled to it all along. Fisher probably had that mindset all throughout high school, which caused her to not work as hard as she should have. This ultimately caused her to suffer the consequences in the end. Blaming her denial from the university on minorities is ignorant, and taking her plea all the way to the Supreme Court is utterly ridiculous.
Fisher did not get rejected because she was white, she got rejected because her grades were not good enough. In order to reach a goal, one is supposed to put in the work in order to get there successfully, and Fisher did not do that.
Using the “because-I’m-white” argument is the most ignorant thing she could have said. White Americans have had the upper hand for centuries, ever since the British came and took away Native American’s rights. Fisher’s ride has been cushy and problem free due to her race. How dare she turn that around and say that it’s the reason for not going to college? This is simply the one time that she didn’t get what she wanted, and now she’s blaming others instead of taking responsibility.
If people take one thing away from learning about Fisher v. Texas, it’s that blaming minorities is never the answer. They’ve been oppressed for decades and will continue to be as long as white Americans continue to be ignorant.