First, it's important to realize that affirmative action is based on rejecting Enlightenment principles of impartiality and universalizability. The policy derives from explicitly post-Enlightenment philosophies like postmodernism and critical theory. Both these philosophies reject individual rights and see the group as the primary unit in society since oppression is typically based on groups. It's also worth noting that Enlightenment impartiality has biblical roots: "“You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.” Leviticus 19:15
India has had an affirmative action-type program since 1945 to fix the historical injustices created by the caste system. 80 years later, and one of the main legacies is that no one wants a Dalit (untouchable) doctor. It's hard to be a Brahmin doctor because medical school is intensely competitive for Brahmins. Think of it like being an Asian doctor in America. Asians are discriminated against because the goal of high-status schools is to produce the next generation of American-style Brahmins to rule society, and Asians are not fully acculturated into this calling. But it's easy for Dalits to get into medical school due to affirmative action, so the outcome is that there are many Dalit doctors who are simply unqualified. And as a Christian, I'm on Team Dalit. They are one of the few groups in India where Christianity is spreading. Their society tells them they are less than human, but Jesus tells them that they are made in the image of God, every bit as much as the highest ranking Brahmin.
There is a similar dynamic in the United States - the ratchet effect. Harvard's average SAT score is 1540. If they admit black students with 1350s, then these students will likely drop out (with nothing but a ton of student loan debt to show for their trouble), or they'll be pushed away from hard majors like physics and engineering and towards easy majors like Psychology and African-American studies. But these students have the ability to be top-notch engineers if they went to any school other than Harvard.
Meanwhile Harvard and other ivy leagues have taken all the black students with 1350s, so the good second tier schools with 1350 SATs admit black students with 1150 SATs. And so on down the chain. Affirmative action is systemically increasing the rate at which black students either drop out of school, or get pushed in majors suitable only for careers in elite overproduction fields - the token black hire at an NGO. I wonder if for devout leftists, affirmative action is working as intended.
If colleges simply used test scores they'd have much more "diversity" than they want as half the admissions would be Asians. If they added an income requirement things might well be the same or more so, all those Asian immigrant strivers. I'd be more than happy if they went back to tuition at state schools being the equivalent of what a kid can make with a summer job. Currently I'm paying $11K per semester, that's tuition, doesn't include dorm or meals.
Many people are multiracial anyway. Do we want to subsidize the progeny of slave owners? What of people whose ancestors were slaves in other countries, which includes probably all of us.
Yesterday Harvard announced massive cutbacks in it's Phd programs. I don't understand why with their huge endowment. Their disgraced serial plagiarist former president is still drawing just under a million dollars a year in salary, but at least she is diverse.
Many, many American Native Tribes had slaves. It was common. So to give preferences to Native Americans is giving preferences to slaves and slave owners.
"If colleges simply used test scores they'd have much more "diversity" than they want as half the admissions would be Asians"
Exactly, it's straight-up racism towards Asians. And then when they try to justify it, they dig deeper. "Well schools are interested in the whole person and that's why they accept more whites than Asians." I remember my liberal mom telling me proudly when I was a teenager how her generation ended the informal Jewish quotas in Ivy Leagues. Well, they replaced it with Asian quotas, and they brought the Jewish quotas back.
"Racially and economically integrated student bodies at selective institutions of higher education are good for students and important for the future of the nation’s leadership class! "YOU wrote this now back it up with how and why ! MERIT is the only thing that will make America better across the board ! NO preferences for ANY so called "identity group " !
I often wonder how many critics of diversity efforts could be assuaged if organizations, academic and otherwise, didn't boast about their diversity. While MAGA certainly has racist elements, I think some critics of DEI are just put off by progressive smugness. If an organization diversifies, whether for pragmatic or principled reasons, they would do well to say "these are our best applicants" rather than "look how inclusive we are."
First, it's important to realize that affirmative action is based on rejecting Enlightenment principles of impartiality and universalizability. The policy derives from explicitly post-Enlightenment philosophies like postmodernism and critical theory. Both these philosophies reject individual rights and see the group as the primary unit in society since oppression is typically based on groups. It's also worth noting that Enlightenment impartiality has biblical roots: "“You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.” Leviticus 19:15
India has had an affirmative action-type program since 1945 to fix the historical injustices created by the caste system. 80 years later, and one of the main legacies is that no one wants a Dalit (untouchable) doctor. It's hard to be a Brahmin doctor because medical school is intensely competitive for Brahmins. Think of it like being an Asian doctor in America. Asians are discriminated against because the goal of high-status schools is to produce the next generation of American-style Brahmins to rule society, and Asians are not fully acculturated into this calling. But it's easy for Dalits to get into medical school due to affirmative action, so the outcome is that there are many Dalit doctors who are simply unqualified. And as a Christian, I'm on Team Dalit. They are one of the few groups in India where Christianity is spreading. Their society tells them they are less than human, but Jesus tells them that they are made in the image of God, every bit as much as the highest ranking Brahmin.
There is a similar dynamic in the United States - the ratchet effect. Harvard's average SAT score is 1540. If they admit black students with 1350s, then these students will likely drop out (with nothing but a ton of student loan debt to show for their trouble), or they'll be pushed away from hard majors like physics and engineering and towards easy majors like Psychology and African-American studies. But these students have the ability to be top-notch engineers if they went to any school other than Harvard.
Meanwhile Harvard and other ivy leagues have taken all the black students with 1350s, so the good second tier schools with 1350 SATs admit black students with 1150 SATs. And so on down the chain. Affirmative action is systemically increasing the rate at which black students either drop out of school, or get pushed in majors suitable only for careers in elite overproduction fields - the token black hire at an NGO. I wonder if for devout leftists, affirmative action is working as intended.
It is the unintended consequence which always follows poorly thought out change
If colleges simply used test scores they'd have much more "diversity" than they want as half the admissions would be Asians. If they added an income requirement things might well be the same or more so, all those Asian immigrant strivers. I'd be more than happy if they went back to tuition at state schools being the equivalent of what a kid can make with a summer job. Currently I'm paying $11K per semester, that's tuition, doesn't include dorm or meals.
Many people are multiracial anyway. Do we want to subsidize the progeny of slave owners? What of people whose ancestors were slaves in other countries, which includes probably all of us.
Yesterday Harvard announced massive cutbacks in it's Phd programs. I don't understand why with their huge endowment. Their disgraced serial plagiarist former president is still drawing just under a million dollars a year in salary, but at least she is diverse.
Good comment.
Many, many American Native Tribes had slaves. It was common. So to give preferences to Native Americans is giving preferences to slaves and slave owners.
"If colleges simply used test scores they'd have much more "diversity" than they want as half the admissions would be Asians"
Exactly, it's straight-up racism towards Asians. And then when they try to justify it, they dig deeper. "Well schools are interested in the whole person and that's why they accept more whites than Asians." I remember my liberal mom telling me proudly when I was a teenager how her generation ended the informal Jewish quotas in Ivy Leagues. Well, they replaced it with Asian quotas, and they brought the Jewish quotas back.
"Racially and economically integrated student bodies at selective institutions of higher education are good for students and important for the future of the nation’s leadership class! "YOU wrote this now back it up with how and why ! MERIT is the only thing that will make America better across the board ! NO preferences for ANY so called "identity group " !
Class instead of race - amen!
I often wonder how many critics of diversity efforts could be assuaged if organizations, academic and otherwise, didn't boast about their diversity. While MAGA certainly has racist elements, I think some critics of DEI are just put off by progressive smugness. If an organization diversifies, whether for pragmatic or principled reasons, they would do well to say "these are our best applicants" rather than "look how inclusive we are."
What racist elements?