Affirmative Action Bake Sales are tricky business. If you do it wrong, people won't understand what you stand for and it can erupt into a shouting match or even violence. Done right, an Affirmative Action Bake sales can be a profitable enterprise that really makes people think.

The first thing you need to do is make some posters that have solid information on them.

You'll also want a large sign that says "Bake Sale" on it. Making a large sign that says "Affirmative Action Bake sale" is generally unwise. Not everyone knows what affirmative action is, and who knows, some may think that you are raising money for Affirmative Action. If you really want the shock factor (which you do), you want as many people to approach the table as possible. Once they come by, they'll be applaud to see the pricing format. At this point you can explain to them the pricing format is indeed ludicrous.

After getting all your signs together, set up shop at a major chokepoint / thoroughfare on campus.

It won't take long for people to congregate.

Make sure you have the proper documentation for the bakesale :)

You have to also be well-prepared for Affirmative Action Bake Sales in the way you address the opposition. Here are some basic reasons why affirmative action is a bad thing.

• It is an insult to minorities. Not only does it imply that they are not able to compete, but it puts all of their achievements into question. Did they get into this College because of the color of their skin or because they were qualified to be there?
• Minorities often fail out of colleges they get into because of Affirmative Action as they are not qualified to be there.
• It takes an emphasis off personal achievement, instead putting it on personal traits (gender, race).
• More often then not, affirmative action benefits middle-class minorities, not the economically disadvantaged.
• It betrays Martin Luther King's dream of a color-blind society.
• Preference is staggeringly arbitrary. Why should the under-qualified son of a black doctor displace the qualified daughter of a Vietnamese boat refugee?

Here are some common rebuttals.

"My father (a minority) was a poor man who didn't have enough money for college. Without Affirmative Action, he would not have succeeded."

This is a pretty easy one. The most obvious refutation is that millions of Americans are in this situation, yet we are only assisting those of specific fleshtones. Also worthy of pointing out is that once the playing field is equalized (the man's father receives his Undergraduate College Acceptance / Scholarship) the affirmative action does not stop. He will get in to grad schools more easily, will land jobs more easily, and regardless of how much wealth he accumulates his children, who do not need Affirmative Action will receive it.

"College is meant to be a diverse experience. By using Affirmative Action, we increase the amount of diversity on campuses."

Even if affirmative action increased total diversity, the morality of "treat each person with equal respect" utterly trumps diversity. You can also point out that Affirmative Action was never intended to be a matter of diversity. Affirmative Action was initially a program in which colleges went into heavily black areas and encouraged students to study hard and apply to highly competitive schools. However over the last 30 years, its definition has slowly twisted to become a matter of quotas and 'bonus points' on school and job applications.


And if you really want to prepare for the Bake Sale, read this article. It hits just about every conceivable argument against affirmative action and is extremely well written.

If anyone has any ideas for the Bake sale, post them on the forum on the thread entitled "Affirmative Action Bake Sale."