Assignment--- From a Black persons perspective write a letter to plead the case for affirmative action. (please see more of my thoughts at end of official assignment)

Dear Congress Person,

I want to purpose a bill. This bill works for male and female. It works for all races and religions. This bill l I call affirmative action. This will make an opportunity for everyone. This letter will explain more fully.

I believe that you should get off your high horses. Listen to the cry of your own people. We are tired of being oppressed. All of us need jobs. All the people deserve jobs and equal rights. Our children need to integrate in schools and sports to know each other better.

Affirmative action is the best bill to do this I think. This is not only for blacks but for women too. Affirmative action says that a certain amount of women and blacks have to be allowed to work. This bill purposes all races and all genders will receive an opportunity for work. People deserve the dignity of work, all people. Women and minorities deserve to have an equal chance to combat the racism and sexism that has a deep root in this our country.

The main thing is that I believe that all people deserve a chance to get a good job without discrimination. Not just me but many other people believe this to be true. I know allot of my friends do. All the white people that I know believe this too. All the adults in my community believe this. I live in an integrated community so this is people of all races.

All in all my point is that all people deserve jobs. I think this bill is perfect. Just wait you will see; I know millions of people will say yes to affirmative action. If passed and if we could see into the future we will see a very different world. Once the door has been opened so they can show their worth we will see a world where people come together acknowledging the value of each person. At that time affirmative action will no longer be needed. But for now I plead for the future of those who are bound.

Sincerely, Your fellow citizen

The following is not according to the rules of the assignment but the assignment lead me to write the following.

Affirmative Action Do We Still Need It?

Having to write this assignment made me stop and think more about affirmative action. I have heard on the news some people saying we still need it and some saying it is time to stop it.

I think that the original cause for affirmative action was to come against racism and sexism that stopped people from getting jobs and education.

I had posted the following on a public forum where many adults go to talk. Unfortunately Mom says it looks like from the way it is worded that the report is for Social Studies, opps. I meant that social studies, the work, is hard for me and this is social studies kind of work even though the report is for Language Arts class. I need the A in Language Arts so I can get off TV restriction.

POST I am in the 8th grade and have to do this report on affirmative action for Black history month in my school. I have an old book about it but I want more recent information about how we as a society feel about it.

My mom said I could use anything you post in my report so long as it is not vulgar or something.

For anyone who would like to give me your answer my question is--

Do you feel we as a society still need affirmative action as a law to make life more equal for black people, women and other minorities? Please explain why you gave the answer.

Thank you very much and I really need an A so I hope you will tell me what you think as social studies is not my best subject, my best is Math.

8th grader end of post

I got many people who were nice and responded. Some requested that I let them know how it came out. I am sure there will be some who do not like it. I am sorry if you do not. But I do thank you for your posts.

So at this point I would like to thank everyone who responded. Thank you no matter which side you were on.

When my mom and I were starting to eat dinner tonight we were talking about this and it suddenly came to me. Affirmative action would not have been needed if there were no racism or sexism, then each person could truly be judged just on their merit. So one of the questions is have racism and sexism been destroyed?

The act of having equality for everyone is a great idea for who wants to be the low guy on the totem pole. I am a girl and I want to have whatever I want. I do not want anyone saying I can not have something just because I am a girl. I think what ever available money there is for schools should be spread out equally for all to share, if they qualify. But Who sets the rules of qualification and determines what the rules are? At the begining of Affirmative action it was mostly while males. If you check history white males had control of most things. The rules were set up to give better access to males and benefit males such as most of the sports money went for football because men played it and men liked it and men had control of the money. Men felt it was their right to have it that way. I as a girl think that if a school has money then they should spend it on both girls and boys. I really can not understand why a person would think that most of the money should spent on just boys and I as a girl should not get an equal share.

I think affirmative action helps me get a better chance to live a equal life. I can see where especially white men might get angry as before they had most of the good opportunities and jobs. White males had the biggest say from what I have read. Even now I have heard many things where men help men and keep women out. Now because of the law of affirmative action white men do not always get the jobs and places in school. The law now says that even if a person who is hiring is prejudice they have to hire women and black people. They can no longer spend the money on a prejudice viewpoint. This would make a prejudice person angry I think. Do I want to support a prejudice world?. No I do not. If I was a white man I would not want to give up a good thing either so I understand where they are coming from.

It is like a club when we were in 4th grade. About 3 got together and made a club and would help each other out and play together. It was a small class and the other kids wanted into the club. I remember there were some kids they did not like especially one girl. They would not let them in the club because they did not like them and it made them feel more important than the others. My teacher found out about the club and broke it up. A couple of years later when I got a head taller than the rest of the girls they were mean to me so I knew how the kids that were kept out felt. It is not nice to try to keep people out just because you do not like them and want to make yourself feel important. Do I want to live in a nice world? Yes I do. I think we can each make the world into what we want it to be. I like nice and safe myself. I do not like mean.

So affirmative action was set up to keep people from keeping out the ones they did not like. I think if people have changed and do not try to keep people out then affirmative action can be stopped. You know what? From some of the responses I got I think the club to keep them out is still there so until the teacher breaks up the club or the club members disband or set the rule so they are not pro boys I think we will have to keep affirmative action. It would be a nice world were everyone was truly judged by just their work and efforts but I dont think that is the only thing people are judged for yet.

I would especially like to thank this poster who made the following response. My mom liked it too. I have tried to do what you said as my mom says "look for wisdom and try to learn from it" and yours sounded like wisdom. I tried to see both sides and decide how I felt. I hope I have been able to convey it properly.

8th Grader,

If I was writing your paper, I'd try to powerfully present the *questions* about AA. In politics, the *questions* are the *problems*. In politics, its hard to always know the perfect answer to a problem. But if we can know 'the issue' or problem, then we will be able to find the best answer that we are able to.

Teaching others about 'the issues' [or problems] in politics, means that you have to understand not only what **you** think and feel the *issue* to be, but also what **other people** feel that the problem to be.

It is because some problems are everyone's problems, not just yours or mine personally, that we call them "political".

So, if I were you, I'd write a paper stating what the different sides see as the problem. But to do that, to *really* understand 'the issue', I'd need to be able to see it from each side. To understand why so many people get so mad about something, I'd need to understand what they see and what they feel, just the way that they do.

That might sound hard. But all I'd need to do is like and respect others enough to understand *just what* they are really saying. And if one can develop that powerful skill, then one has half the skill that a true judge or statesman or leader must have to be effective.

The other half is the ability to *decide* or judge which side is *best*. But if we can't learn to really *listen* we'll never learn to really *decide*.

I hope this project goes well for you. America really needs effective leadership.

-- tim phronesia (phronesia@webtv.net), March 01, 2000.

Maybe, I will be a judge someday that way I could do my astronomy at night as Judges work in the day. Then again I want to be a scientist and work at NASA so I do not know yet.

Thank you all again.

8th grader

-- 8th grader (non@eight.com), March 01, 2000

Answers

8th grader, why not read this: http://hv.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=000ERE

-- (formerly@nowhere.zzz), March 02, 2000.

First of all, this is a very well written report. However, it is very hard for me to believe that an 8th grader wrote this. Children in the public school cannot, I repeat, cannot, write anything at all close to this. Are you homeschooled? If so, I might be able to believe it. You will please forgive me if I am off base stating this, but, it is too hard to believe that public school has produced this child, so careful of his writing, punctuation, spelling, etc. I think we all might have been had.

-- janet marsh (jmarsh4185@aol.com), March 02, 2000.

I am eighth grader's mom. I have homeschooled my other child a little but this one has always been in public school making mostly A's (until this year when she discovered boys). She has grow up with books and adult conversation. If you are personally concerned about your child's education then they will preform in most cases. Trust me she corrects me on some subjects; it has it pitfalls.

She is also a child of a single Mom does that blow you away too? Most people think single mom's can't raise any thing any good from several posts I have seen on this board.

She takes life very serious too serious for a child sometimes. She has teachers who are astonished at times with ideas and thoughts she comes up with they are more advanced than her age. Talk with them, make them prove their point and they learn to think.

Set the standard and they will rise to it.

8th graders Mom

-- 8th graders Mom (nonfor8th@grader.com), March 02, 2000.

How can anyone regard women as being a minority, its completely illogical

do you think that whites are the only race capable of "racism" that seems to be implicit

why don't you approach the topic not from prejudice (i.e your basic premise that women and blacks are suppressed minorities) to finding out the real reasons for situations why not look at crime, divorce, drug taking and cultures

-- Sir Richard (richard.dale@unum.co.uk), March 03, 2000.

Nope, I am not concerned about a single mother raising children. I raised 4 alone until I finally found a wonderful man. It is unusual to see a child in the 8th grade that can write as well as she does, and that says alot for you. I am sorry if I offended you, but, you must agree, that your child is one in a million in the public school system that is doing so well. I pray that she will stay that way. Many, many, HS kids cannot add without a calculator, spell, nor even write legibly[sp] I commend you as a Mother and also your daughter, she will go far. I have homeschooled my grandson for 8 years and he is in 10th grade at 14. It is hard, but the only solution as far as I am concerned. Good luck to your child, hope that she wins a great scholarship to go to a wonderful college, and now is the time to think about that. God's blessing to you al

-- janet marsh (jmarsh4185@aol.com), March 03, 2000.