ation system is under pressure from a growing immigrant population, an increasingly isolated group of poor students of color, and increasing challenges to the idea of assimilation into the mainstream.?As stated before, affirmative action currently seeks to level the playing field for everyone regardless of their origin by ?boosting? minorities. Can we say assimilation here? It seems we need to recognize the fact that there are multiple playing fields, and support each one of them ? in other words, support minorities based on their unique backgrounds and abilities, rather than align them with the rest of the nation. This may require radical changes throughout American society with respect to the opinions it holds of various professions and career and educational goals. A person can be anything he or she wants ? a sales representative, a lawyer, a professional basketball player, a factory worker, a dental assistant, a musician, actor, make-up artist, repair technician, theologian, florist, horse breeder, Formula One driver ? the list is virtually endless. My point is that anyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, national origin, sex or religion, can find something he or she is good at (and likes to do), and pursue it. Affirmative action in its simplest form ? equal treatment ? can only support that. But my point is also that anyone pursuing their goals, furthering their abilities, and living a productive life makes a positive impact on others and on all of society in general. If a young black male has considerable talent as a basketball player, by all means he should pursue it and build a career for himself. In the context of current affirmative action policies, he might have been given numerous advantages and chances on the way to becoming, say, a lawyer (like many whites), but it might not have been the right stuff for him after all. Is he therefore an individual of lesser worth? Did we fail him? Hardly. But society is still conditioned t...
