- Mar 11, 2015
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We're looking at 2020 and there are just some things we MUST address.
The 'Merit' Myth: The White Lies About Race-Conscious College Admissions
Michael Harriot
Of all the things ever held by white America and kept just out of reach from black hands and hearts, money has never been the most important of these. Nor has power, justice or equality ever been our ultimate goal. No man desires to be the equal of his oppressor or expects justice from the practitioners of injustice.
Opportunity is the thing.
It was the prospect of the opportunity to participate in democracy, the opportunity to attend school wherever they desired, the opportunity to sit wherever they wanted on buses, trains and in diners that drove the civil rights movement. Nat Turner picked up a machete because he wanted the opportunity to breathe free. Black Lives Matter simply fights for black people’s opportunity to breathe.
Conservatives and people who believe in reverse racism have pushed the Trump administration to end the growing oppression of white America, arguing that factoring diversity into college admissions and disregarding “merit” is a form of prejudice against whites.
Before wading into the discussion, there are four arguments that should be thrown out before we even begin:
The American education system isn’t race-neutral
White children get a better education.
That is a fact supported by hundreds—if not thousands—of studies by education researchers, including reports like:
3. University admissions were never merit-based
A 2010 study of 30 elite colleges found that family connections to a particular institution outweighs athletic ability, grades and even minority status when it comes to college admissions. A recent lawsuit against Harvard University, considered the gold standard of U.S. colleges, revealed that 33 percent of applicants whose parents attended the Massachusetts school are admitted at a rate of five times more than non-legacy students, according to the school’s own newspaper, The Crimson.
And the legacies are predominately white.
The 'Merit' Myth: The White Lies About Race-Conscious College Admissions
The 'Merit' Myth: The White Lies About Race-Conscious College Admissions
Michael Harriot
Of all the things ever held by white America and kept just out of reach from black hands and hearts, money has never been the most important of these. Nor has power, justice or equality ever been our ultimate goal. No man desires to be the equal of his oppressor or expects justice from the practitioners of injustice.
Opportunity is the thing.
It was the prospect of the opportunity to participate in democracy, the opportunity to attend school wherever they desired, the opportunity to sit wherever they wanted on buses, trains and in diners that drove the civil rights movement. Nat Turner picked up a machete because he wanted the opportunity to breathe free. Black Lives Matter simply fights for black people’s opportunity to breathe.
Conservatives and people who believe in reverse racism have pushed the Trump administration to end the growing oppression of white America, arguing that factoring diversity into college admissions and disregarding “merit” is a form of prejudice against whites.
Before wading into the discussion, there are four arguments that should be thrown out before we even begin:
- Affirmative action is a “quota system:” While there are many different versions of affirmative action, the Supreme Court has specifically outlawed the use of racial quotas in 1978, 2009, and 2014. Institutions are allowed to use race as a factor but setting aside a specific number or percentage of slots for minority students is not legally allowed.
- People of color benefit the most from affirmative action: In almost every category, white women have been the biggest beneficiaries of affirmative action. Despite their overwhelming dislike, in almost every entity where affirmative action is enacted, non-Hispanic white women see the biggest leaps in pay, employment and college acceptance. Even in cases like Harvard, which is accused of limiting the number of Asian-American students, according to the Washington Post, it is white men who fill those slots, not minorities.
- Race-conscious admission is an attempt to make up for past discrimination: Wrong again. Colleges and Universities are allowed to use race-based admissions policies to create and foster diverse student policies, but in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, the Supreme Court ruled that colleges could not use affirmative action to compensate for prior discrimination.”
- Race-based admission policies mean unqualified minority students get accepted to college: This is simply not true. While universities might allow students with lower test scores, grades, etc. to gain entrance, colleges do not accept students who fail to meet the college’s minimum qualification standards. In other words, if University X requires that students score 1200 on the SAT, a black student with a 1300 might beat out a white kid with a 1320, but a black student with a score of 1100 still wouldn’t qualify.
The American education system isn’t race-neutral
White children get a better education.
That is a fact supported by hundreds—if not thousands—of studies by education researchers, including reports like:
- A 2014 report by the Center for American Progress showing that minority and low-income children get the least qualified teachers.
- In 2012, schools across the country spent an average of $334 more on white students than students of color.
- A 2015 study revealed that schools funding decreases proportionately to the number of black students at the school. In other words, the more black students at a school, the fewer funds the school receives., regardless of the tax base or income in the school district.
- A 2016 National Education Association report revealed that elementary schools with high minority populations have fewer librarians and smaller libraries. In fact, the poorest mostly white districts have, on average, eight times as many librarians as the wealthiest high-minority districts.
3. University admissions were never merit-based
A 2010 study of 30 elite colleges found that family connections to a particular institution outweighs athletic ability, grades and even minority status when it comes to college admissions. A recent lawsuit against Harvard University, considered the gold standard of U.S. colleges, revealed that 33 percent of applicants whose parents attended the Massachusetts school are admitted at a rate of five times more than non-legacy students, according to the school’s own newspaper, The Crimson.
And the legacies are predominately white.
The 'Merit' Myth: The White Lies About Race-Conscious College Admissions
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