Civil rights leaders of the past fought long and hard for minorities to be treated with the same credence as white people. Whether it was in the job market or in the classroom, affirmative action was a necessity for equal treatment of minorities.

But in today’s world, discrimination is not a factor like it was in the 1960s—for the most part anyway.

Granted there are always exceptions to the rule, and it’s likely forms of discrimination will remain. But to say this country needs to be forced to accept minority students or workers based solely on the fact that they are a minority is discriminatory in itself.

Affirmative action policies at many universities accept the top 10 percent based on grades, and after that admittance is based on race.

The problem is that affirmative action is based on the judgment of people as a part of a group and not as individuals. It underscores the achievments of individual students for the sake of keeping a diverse campus.

LSU student Abigail Fisher originally wanted to go the University of Texas, but was turned away, she says, because she is white. Her situation has turned into a case the Supreme Court is expected to rule on this week.

The Hawkeye thinks all students should be accepted or denied based on their grades, regardless of skin color or ethnicity.

American culture is more accepting of diversity today than it has been in over a century.

Universities should not turn away a more qualified student in order to fill a ratio of diversity. This kind of behavior hinders growth.

Students were once denied admission based on race, and because of that affirmative action was made. Now universities are forced by the law to deny students based on race.

Regardless the cause, the fact remains that minority students can attend any university they want to, provided they have the grades.

The problem now is the discrimination being faced by nonminority students, who may have the grades but because of their majority status are not admitted.

 The law is supposed to be applied equally to all citizens. Things like affirmative action and hate crime legislation are nothing more than discrimination under the law.

The problem in our culture is the need to specialize laws to fit different communities, whether they are black, white or Latino.

We sacrifice equality under the law for forced cultural equality. The result is that nothing is treated equally.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that this system does not work.

We cannot legislate morality. It simply does not work. We cannot make laws that tell people how to treat other people.

Racism cannot be eliminated by a law. Sexism cannot be eliminated by a law. No discrimination can be eliminated by a law.

Only people can do away with discrimination. We shape our world through our everyday actions. If you want discrimination to end, you have to stop discriminating.

The Hawkeye thinks the problem of discrimination is a serious one, but the solution to it will not be found in the courts or in the legislatures of this country.

The answer instead lies in how we treat each other.