Tuesday, November 1, 2022

Affirmative Action Seems to be in Trouble

 The oral arguments before the Supreme Court suggest that at least six justices are not strong on the status quo.  What if the Court goes crazy and says public and perhaps even private colleges may not discriminate based on race?  Possible responses:

1. Eliminate legacy preferences.  Just because four generations of Winthrops have attended Harvard is no reason to give them preference.

The more radical responses all involve hard questions that no one in the Deep State considers safe to ask, such as why so many black kids are not getting into Ivy League schools.

2. What role does poor literacy modeling in ghetto families play?  You learn to read and actually do so for pleasure because you grow up in a home where your primary role models read.

3. Does the poor quality of public K-12 education impair learning of black kids?  Can we solve this without the ickiness of school choice and tax credits for private schools?

4. What role does violence in public schools play in impairing learning?  I was subject to violence in elementary and junior high.  (Smallest and youngest kid, every grade.  That I was a poor student until 9th grade might just be a coincidence.)

5. What role does illegitimacy play?  Blacks are roughly twice as likely to be born out of wedlock as whites.  Unstable and unpredictable homes cannot be positive roles for education.

The problem is that 2-5 involve some cultural imperialism, much like many American public schools imposed on a couple generations of immigrants with horrifying results: kids who grew into adults who joined the middle class and went to college.

1 comment:

  1. Going to college no longer has anything to do with getting an education or becoming a productive citizen.

    ReplyDelete