I voted in 2020 because of one critical issue: I want to ensure that black kids in America would continue to attend top universities in the nation. The Trump administration had mounted ferocious attacks on one of the ways which enable black kids to get into Harvard, Yale, Princeton, etc, by fighting to dismantle affirmative action. Today, I am happy that the Appeals court has sided with Harvard: race could be considered during admission.
When people write that America does not need affirmative action in these top schools, they have been unable to explain why in some schools, most students who needed affirmative action to get in are not ALWAYS the least performing in classes. Yes, Obama needed one but he was never the bottom of his class. This does imply that the “stable state system” is not fair. So that perturbation of considering race becomes necessary since implicit privileged race had played a role in the stable state selection. The Appeal court ruling is correct.
The argument has been: allow written tests to be the exclusive parameters to admit these students. My point remains: when hiring workers in your company, do you just employ the top performing applicants in written tests? Yes, you still look for other means to evaluate the candidates. The same thing is happening when universities look at students’ backgrounds and “race” when making decisions.
A poor latino girl, raised by a single mother, who scored 360 could be a better student than a son of medical doctors who scored 361. If someone extrapolates that the girl could be a better achiever, looking at what she has accomplished, despite her background, should not be seen as discriminating. That blacks and Latinos need this support must be classified as being unfair to the boy who scored 361.
Possibly by 2050, America will overgrow it when men and women will not see any race as being superior, and with that bias chose them over minorities. But today, a fudge factor is needed to balance the equation, and affirmative action is it.
Update: Big Tech sides with Harvard on race
Some of the biggest names in tech came out in support of Harvard’s affirmative action admissions policies in its fight against a federal lawsuit. Apple, Microsoft (LinkedIn’s parent) and Twitter were among those signing a friend-of-the-court brief this spring that sided with the university against the U.S. Justice Department. The companies cited their need for workers who are diverse and thrive in an “inclusive environment,” and for colleges and universities to provide these workers — especially as K-12 schools in the U.S. have become more homogenous. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston upheld the ruling Thursday that Harvard has the right to consider race in selecting a student body — setting the case up for a possible Supreme Court review.
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