I have always felt that the story of how I got into medical school by posing as black had power. I thought that I could convince people about the negative effects of affirmative action racism. Now I understand why.
On April 25, 2015, I listened to a radio program by This American Life on NPR called 555: The Incredible Rarity of Changing Your Mind, Act One Do Ask, Do Tell. Ira Glass tells a story about how to political canvassers for abortion rights and gay marriage convinced people to change their points of view. In essence, the political canvassers going door to door convinced likely voters to change their minds on important issues if the canvasser had personal experience with the issue. Statistical evidence showed that married gay couples and women who had abortions were able to convince voters to change their point of view on gay marriage and abortion respectively by telling voters about their personal experiences with the issue. The key to changing people’s minds was sharing personal experiences with an issue.
This is relevant for me because I have had personal experiences with affirmative action racism. In my application to medical school, I benefited from affirmative action racism, but ultimately dropped out because they accepted me despite the fact that I was not qualified. Subsequently, I had a great educational experience going to UCLA Anderson, a business school that doesn’t practice affirmative action racism in admissions.
By sharing my personal experiences, I can change people’s minds about affirmative action.
