We predict that 15 years from now, most will look back and insist the end of affirmative action was appropriate.
Yes, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively ended affirmative action in college admissions on June 29, 2023. In a 6-3 decision, the Court ruled that race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The decision overturned decades of legal precedent that had allowed colleges to consider race as one factor among many in admissions to promote diversity
Most agree that affirmative action by race was necessary and crucial years ago, given America’s long history of slavery and the subsequent 100 years of law-based discrimination by race and gender. But things have changed quite a bit since the 1960s.
Medium.com’s Steve QJ, a Black man, believes race-based affirmative action is passe, advocating for poverty-based quotas instead.
In his article Affirmative Action’s ‘Race’ Problem, he writes, “Race-based affirmative action makes the same mistake that all race-based thinking makes; it presumes that people whose skin is the same color are all the same. Or that they all face the same socioeconomic hurdles. That their presence in a group automatically equals ‘diversity.’”
“This was a reasonable assumption in 1964. But not in 2022.”
Referencing Harvard, he points out that 71% of its minority students are socio-economically advantaged and insists the aforementioned stat is comparable for most other elite colleges.
“In other words, while these campuses might look superficially diverse, hardly any of their minority students come from underprivileged backgrounds. They’re just privileged kids with darker skin.”
Essentially, should a Black kid who attends a private high school and is being raised in a middle-class household by parents who are white-collar professionals benefit from race-based affirmative action today?
Steve QJ believes that kid already has advantages and opportunities by virtue of their upbringing and should not be placed in the same category as a teenage version of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. A Latina and proponent of race-based affirmative action, she clearly benefited from the practice.
“I had no need to apologize that the look-wider, search-more affirmative action that Princeton and Yale practiced had opened doors for me. […], she wrote.
“The question is not, how did I get in? It’s what did I do when I got there? And with pride, I can say I graduated at the top of my class.
While it’s true that Sotomayor would never have been able to attend Yale if not for affirmative action, Steve QJ insists Sotomayor’s circumstances, not her race/ethnicity, should have made her deserving of the extra help she received. Hence, she was raised in a housing project in the Bronx and had limited opportunities due to her family’s poverty, and faced added obstacles as a result.
“The goal is to help people, all people, who need help,” Steve QJ added.
“To foster environments where individuals from genuinely diverse backgrounds interact with each other. To support people who, due to poverty or a lack of access to quality education, find themselves with more talent than opportunity.”
“Solutions aimed at helping these [economically disadvantaged] people will disproportionately benefit people of color, which is as it should be. Because people of color have spent hundreds of years being deliberately disadvantaged in these areas.”
“But these solutions will also benefit poor and underprivileged white people. And this is also as it should be. Because a world that discriminates by need is superior in every way to a world that continues to discriminate by skin color.
Should we tweak how we view affirmative action?
The answer solely depends on how much racial progress we’ve made and how far we still have to go.
But look around you. Despite challenges, progress continues. As of recent years, over 40% of African Americans identify as middle class. Black families have increasingly graduated from college, moved into suburban areas, and attained high-paying, white collar jobs. And they’ve made it on their merit, not their color.
We’re seeing successful Blacks and Hispanics in nearly every industry. Yes, racism still exists. There’s no doubt about that. But today, most companies simply want to improve their bottomline and appeal to as many potential customers as possible. For the vast majority of employers today, results are more important than race
Again, that doesn’t mean everything is peaches and cream. However, if a young Black child wants to be successful badly enough – and is willing to work hard – nothing can stop them.
Finally, it’s important to recognize that when Black individuals achieve high-ranking positions today, it is a testament to their skills and qualifications. And any notion that they are there solely due to affirmative action is outdated and unfounded. Their success reflects genuine merit and hard-earned accomplishments, underscoring the progress toward true equality in professional environments.
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