There are many jokes on April Fools day. The news of an African-American male got into all 8 Ivy League schools also went viral online. People thought it was a April Fools joke, but it’s not.
Kwasi Enin, a 17-year-old student from Long Island, N.Y., got into all eight Ivy League schools he applied to. He hasn’t decided on which school to attend, but his legendary story has already fired up all over the internet. There are many sincere Congratulations and words of encouragement coming from all directions.
Congratulations, Kwasi Enin, on getting accepted to ALL 8 IVY LEAGUE SCHOOLS! —> http://t.co/LvjQTPHGww! RT to congratulate him!
— BET (@BET) April 5, 2014
Congratulations, Kwasi Enin! He’s all-Ivy — accepted to all 8 Ivy League colleges http://t.co/RKRHfdVV8S via @usatoday
— William Floyd SD (@WilliamFloydSD) March 31, 2014
There are haters out there
But unfortunately, Kwasi’s African-American background also adds an element of intricacy to the situation. Among the “Congratulations” and “admirations,” there are also many racially-charged rants and voice of bitterness on the internet. Reddit started a page called “17-year-old accepted to all 8 Ivy League colleges.” The page now has over 2 million readers and endless pages of comments. Many comments are the same old saying about “Affirmative Actions” and how a “white equivalent would not get in with the same credentials.” Here are some of the comments:
– Ughhh. Black folks get all the breaks.
– aaaannnnddd heeeees black of course..
– Congratulations on your accomplishments, but it must help having a name like Kwasi Enin.
Why are some people so angry at kwasi’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS?
I am sick and tired of sifting through all these comments because there are way too many of them out there. It’s sad and frustrating to see how people can write such hurtful these comments strangers on the Internet. And I cannot even imagine what Kwasi would feel personally had he read through all these comments.
I don’t really care if he got in because of his name or his race, he is a great student with lots of impressive accomplishments: he scored a 2250 on the SAT; he played music and he is a good athlete; he has good ranking and GPA. Simply attributing his success to Affirmative Action is degrading and being deliberately oblivious to his personal worth and the hard work he put in. Again it’s not his fault that he got into all eight Ivy League Schools.
This world needs a bit more love and respect, not haters and cynicism.