Gates Millennium Scholarship -> Reverse Racism?

<p>The idea of only offering scholarship money to "African Americans, American Indians/Alaska natives, Asian Pacific Americans, and Hispanic Americans with academic promise, unmet financial need, and demonstrated leadership", and excluding whites with similar backgrounds seemed to have been a topic of debate back in the late 90s. </p>

<p>Why isn't this still an issue? Atleast this program is giving money to needy minorities instead of any minority that may be from any range of socioeconomic backgrounds (which seems to be more common somehow), but it still seems unjust.</p>

<p>One phrase on their site that I found a bit ironic was "All lives—no matter where they are being led—have equal value". </p>

<p>I know Bill Gates wants to improve science and technology, but how can he do this to the fullest if those bright, poor white students (that may be able to make an impact) aren't being given the same amazing opportunity?</p>

<p>I believe Microsoft gives General Scholarships as well as those based on Minority Status, Gender, and Disability.</p>

<p>The idea that someone gets a Scholarship based on their race has always seemed a bit wrong, but I can't deny that sometimes it's the only reason a student gets into a certain school or even gets the money to go. The sad part is that, as a society, we don't all seem to be on the same playing field yet. Neither financially or education wise.</p>

<p>I'm "African-American" so to speak. I'm a female. It hasn’t given me any bonus points in the college process, with scholarships or otherwise. I went to city school, predominately black. This school is supposedly the “College-prep” school. All honors classes, but only a few AP classes (which students rarely are able to use for college credit.). No football team, horrible facilities, not too many ECs to get involved in and 700 students. It was the best I was going to get. Now, there are other school systems. They are predominately white, but not necessarily rich. They have classes I wish I could’ve taken, more AP Classes, well funded. These are the schools that had ACT and SAT prep classes, Field Trips, and a ton of extra-curricular activities, and a student parking lot with more than twenty-five spaces. (We had to draw names junior year to see who was lucky enough to pay for a parking pass.) I was jealous. We didn’t even have a drama department at our school, so I couldn’t work on my interest in playwriting. Old computers, so there were no classes that focused on anything beyond learning how to type and browse the internet. We had no speaker announcement system, so if the entire school needed to know something, it had to be sent around on sheets of paper. The song goes on.</p>

<p>Now, I’m not the kind of person that wants to cry unfair or racial injustice. I don’t like to do that. However, this is a special case where it seems to be true. I don’t like minority scholarships, as all they say to me is that people don’t expect much out of minority students. I wish there wasn’t a need for them. But at my school, there were a ton of students whom depended on them in order to go to college, even going as far as to only apply to a HBCU so they could qualify for a lot of those minority scholarships. It’s not fair, but it’s still needed for a lot of people. I know a lot of needy white students, who can’t afford college. I’m in the same boat as them, and we’ll all sink in the same ocean. I also know a lot of white students who have scholarships coming in from everywhere because they went to a better school, while their parents are building them garden homes and buying them new cars. They’ve most likely worked hard, so I’m not saying they don’t deserve it. But before we work on getting rid of minority aid, our society as a whole needs to focus on the big picture and destroying the need for it.</p>

<p>By the way, when I filled out the scholarship application for the school I really want to attend, almost every single one had a preference. Alumni Legacy, Relatives, where your parent worked, where you lived, and especially where you went to high school played a huge role in whether or not you received anything at all.</p>