The need for an exposed pariah in those who walk away from OmelasAffirmative action is perhaps the political hot potato of the decade. Its division has intensified racial tensions across the nation, in political and academic forums. It also creates problems for millions of Americans in the workforce, education, housing, and so on on a daily basis. Affirmative action, by its very definition, uses discrimination to attempt to create equality. Its ultimate goal is to make everyone equal to everyone else: intellectually, in terms of ability, and (dare I say it?) socially. What supporters of this racial and gender communism do not realize is that society can only function in the absence of complete equality. Society always needs someone – be it nationality, religion or gender – to look down on. This point is made most clearly in the short story Those Who Walk Away from Omelas, a 1973 work by Ursula K. Leguin. The central message of Omelas is that society needs a pariah, someone to look down on in order to maintain its happiness. Omelas begins in the middle of a festival in the seemingly utopian town of Omelas. People are in a holiday spirit on this day, as they are every other day in Omelas. Cheer and good humor seem to be the state of mind of all citizens. Although blessed, these people are not at all ignorant: they were not simple people, you see, although they were happy... They were no less complex than us. The seemingly perfect city offers something for every taste: festivals, good-natured orgies, non-addictive drugs, beer and so on. The citizens of Omelas have a total love for life. There is no war, no hunger, no conflict; in short, Omelas seems like the pinnacle of perfection....... middle of paper...... this system is labeled racist or narrow-minded. Therefore, those who oppose affirmative action are becoming objects of scorn and derision; this, combined with the fact that they are discriminated against by affirmative action policies, means that they have become pariahs! Leguin's story is now an allegory for them: they are now small children, trapped and abused in the closet. So, in an attempt to eliminate discrimination and oppressed society, affirmative action has instead created one! Few of those who support affirmative action because they abhor bigotry realize that in doing so they are themselves bigots. Leguin's powerful statement that pariah culture is ubiquitous rings true when one considers that pariah culture is simply perpetuated by attempts to eradicate it. Works Cited: Ursula K. Le Guin, 'Those Who Walk Away from Omelas'