I invite you, my fellow Americans to review Katuria Smith’s case:
Smith grew up poor, with an alcoholic father and stepfather, and struggled through high school. Despite this, she was able to pull her life together. When she was 21, she enrolled in night classes at a community college paralegal program. Holding down jobs during the day, she graduated and enrolled in the University of Washington, where she earned a business degree in 1994. She submitted an impressive application to UW’s law school. However, she was denied because she wasn’t a member of a preferred race.
Nat Hentoff in The Washington Post wrote “I asked them what would have happened if she had not revealed her race on her application. If, considering her first name, she had been taken for black, would she — given her academic record and character — have been admitted? The dean said she would have been.”
Seeing collectors of Initiative 1000 getting signatures, I started to recall Smith’s case. If I-1000 successfully brings back preferential treatment and re-legalizes discrimination, how many hard-working students like Smith would be rejected due to their race?
If we want to help people, we need to help based on their needs but not based on their skin color. Should President Obama’s daughters be given preferential treatment above a poor white person?
Xiaolu Guo
Edmonds
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