I am white, and I want us to be equal. I deserve to be at UCSB just like any high school graduate with a 3.5 GPA and an 1180 SAT score. But the truth is that when Affirmative Action existed, some qualified white people were rejected based on the color of their skin. This is the same discrimination that happens to minorities every day.

The truth is, many black people just are not UCSB material. The truth is, many white people are not UCSB material either. Many minority students (white people are not a minority in California, by the way) are not cut out to attend our great school. Getting rid of Affirmative Action simply levels the playing field so all races can get an equal chance at it.

Now, some say many minorities don’t get a fair chance at higher education because of poor educational opportunities in high school. To that I say everyone has a choice. If you go to a school, or went to a school, that denies you academic opportunities because of race or economic status, then I simply suggest you change schools. Why help the school you are attending by remaining enrolled just so you may receive a terrible education?

My second point is that white people are not the smartest people in schools and are not the top 4 percent or higher in every school. It’s just that white people get the grades – many minorities act as if it’s racism, but it’s not. My school was 99.99 percent white, but our school hero was a black student with a 4.25 GPA and a full-ride football scholarship to Stanford. He had the third highest GPA in my class; do you think he is complaining that he got a bum deal? No, he worked hard just like me and just like every student at UCSB. The result has nothing to do with race or color: It has to do with grades and the quality of people.

We don’t need Affirmative Action to tell white people or black people to get along. We don’t need Affirmative Action to help black people gain a better footing educationally or economically. We need white people helping blacks, black people helping whites, and everyone helping each other. We are all equal in terms of ability – Affirmative Action disputes that. Let Affirmative Action die and let us all be equal. Please e-mail me with your thoughts or arguments (I will respond): JamesBlackSB@hotmail.com.

James Black is a sophomore political science major.