Dear Americans,
Affirmative action was never about admitting unqualified Black kids. It was always about ensuring qualified Black kids could also get accepted despite a world of systemic racism.
The “unqualified admission” you’re thinking of are legacy students—like how Kavanaugh got into Yale.
And sexually assaulted female classmates.
@skykiss Affirmative action is recognizing the imbalance and taking action to right the scales at a faster pace. Last I checked the scales were no where near balanced.
@MaybeMyMonkeys @skykiss I think the disagreement is in how best to balance them, not whether they're balanced. Anyone not hiding in a cave knows there isn't "balance".
I think the disconnect is in how to address it: some want policies to push "groups" up or down, while others are uncomfortable with that and want an individualistic approach.
Here's two quotes I read recently:
1.) "Asians are 6% of the population & 26% of Harvard admissions"
2.) "Practically speaking... (Harvard) effectively mandated that Asian-American applicants score 140 points higher than white students"
Which pisses you off more?
As far as I can tell most people like the individualist philosophy: affirmative action polls pretty badly.
ALDC == athletes, legacies, connections of donors, and children of faculty and staff
From 2020 data:
1) Whites are 64.1% of the population & 55.7% of Harvard admissions?
"Among white admits, over 43%
are ALDC. Among admits who are African American, Asian American, and Hispanic, the
share is less than 16% each."
2) Practically speaking, (at Harvard) how many points lower do ALDC students score compared to non-ALDC students?
I haven't been able to figure out the answer to the 2nd question but, almost 75% of the white ALDC admits to Harvard would not be admitted without ALDC status.
Here's the data, 2019 full paper: https://tinyurl.com/yxr3zy5k
From the abstract: "Removing preferences for athletes and legacies would significantly alter the racial distribution of admitted students, with the share of white admits falling and all other
groups rising or remaining unchanged."
Which pisses you off more? I suspect it depends on how the question is framed and your position in the frame
@ech @MaybeMyMonkeys @skykiss What is interesting is that a Pew Research poll shows 60% of Indians supporting #affirmativeaction. Asians are diverse. https://www.pewresearch.org/race-ethnicity/2023/06/08/asian-americans-hold-mixed-views-around-affirmative-action/