I personally believe that the use of racial and gender preferences in university admissions and employment is not the correct method of ensuring racial and gender equality. Affirmative action not only fails to advance a color blind society, it leads to reverse discrimination. Students and employees admitted based upon this policy are often ill-equipped to handle the tasks required by the school or job. This serves to lower the standards of admission and employment which are needed to push students and workers towards improved performance. Should the policy beneficiary realize success, he or she would face demeaning and condescending remarks regarding the special privileges this individual needed to attain his or her current status.

First and foremost, affirmative action centers around two outstanding moral issues: assistance of the less fortunate and compensation for past grievances. Minorities often reside in less fortunate environments than do whites. These people have...