The need for an outcast exposed in those who walk away from OmelasAffirmative action is perhaps the political hot potato of the decade. Its divisions have exacerbated racial tensions across the country, in political and academic forums. It also creates daily problems for millions of Americans in work, education, housing, and more. 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 abilities and (dare I say?) socially. What the proponents of this racial and gender communism fail to realize is that society can only function in the absence of complete equality. Society always needs someone – whether it’s a nationality, religion or gender – to look down on. This point is made 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 an outcast, someone to look down upon in order to maintain its own 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, like every other day in Omelas. Gaiety and good humor seem to be the mood of all citizens. Although happy, these people are not at all ignorant: they were not simple people, you see, even if they were happy... They were no less complex than us. The seemingly perfect city offers something for everyone: festivals, good-natured orgies, non-addictive drugs, beer, etc. The citizens of Omelas totally love life. There is no war, no hunger, no conflict; in short, Omelas seems to be the pinnacle of perfection....... middle of paper ......t this system qualifies as racist or narrow-minded. Consequently, those who would oppose positive action become the object of contempt and derision; This, coupled 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 little children, trapped and mistreated in the closet. So, in its attempt to eliminate discrimination and oppressed society, affirmative action created one! Few who support affirmative action because they hate intolerance realize that in doing so they are themselves bigots. Leguin's powerful statement that pariah culture is pervasive rings true when we consider that pariah culture is simply perpetuated by the attempt to eradicate it. Works Cited: Ursula K. Le Guin, “Those Who Walk Away from Omelas »'