November 2, 2020 | Arta Khosravi | Corona Del Mar High School
Arta Khosravi is a senior at Corona Del Mar High School in Newport Beach, CA. She is passionate about cultural and religious awareness, and is a proud member of the Zoroastrian community. Arta wants to study international relations and public policy to further develop her interest in shaping laws and analyzing large scale challenges to foreign policy and social change. She can be reached at artakhosravi [at] icloud [dot] com.
My senior year of high school has started, and given the impact of COVID-19, it will be different than any other. But the universal question all high school seniors ask remains: what does next year look like? For every student, that question should be inspiring — an opportunity for a young person to articulate and work towards their dream. But because of pernicious, systemic failures, that is not always the case.
I am dedicated to going to college next year. Personally, a degree in higher education would give me the opportunity to further study political science and international relations, and would make my dream job as an attorney within reach. Without at least a four-year undergraduate degree and a juris doctorate degree from an accredited law school, my dream would be impossible to achieve. A robust education could be make-or-break when applying for dream jobs in the future.
That’s why I strongly support Proposition 16, this year’s ballot initiative to reinstate equal opportunity programs like affirmative action across California. Proposition 16 will be critical for young women students like me, who face uncertainty about their futures, and who need a fair shake to get a good education and good job, en route to building a successful life.
The instability we face in education is exacerbated by California’s statewide ban on affirmative action, which has impacted 24 classes of high school seniors before me — ever since Proposition 209 passed in 1996. Since then, California’s public colleges and universities have been unable to consider the diversity of their classes in making admissions decisions, held back from ensuring equal opportunity was being extended to everyone, regardless of the color of their skin or where they were from.
When Proposition 209 passed, banning these equal opportunity programs, students of color like myself were immediately hurt. Even though our acceptance rates into the UCs and CSUs were below where they should have been, they worsened.
Affirmative action programs are powerful because they actively counteract discrimination. They recognize that our systems in public education, in hiring, and in supporting minority- and women-owned businesses have been skewed for far too long. For example, we know that women have seen more success in states that practice affirmative action — they receive more lucrative promotions, and they are able to start on high-paying career paths because of doors in school, work, and business that are open to them.
In this current moment, when we need to empower every community to succeed to fight against a global pandemic and the economic crisis it has caused, Californians have a chance to fight back: by passing Proposition 16 on the November ballot.
Proposition 16 would reinstate equal opportunity across the board — because affirmative action is about much, much more than education, despite what opponents may say. We must guarantee equal opportunity to every Californian in their ability to get a good job and build a stable life as well as access high quality education — because institutional racism negates even the most impressive college degree.
If we’re serious about delivering on our Californian values of equal opportunity for all who call our diverse and dynamic state home, it’s absolutely critical we pass Proposition 16. As a student of color who wishes to attend college and build a career in California, Proposition 16 will change my life.
Right now, in this moment of instability, I and millions of other Californians need equal opportunity more than ever.
