Could affirmative action actually reduce the number of women entering college?
The U.S. Supreme Court is about to hear a California case
that could determine the fate of affirmative action in college admissions and,
by extension, in all of American society. The kneejerk liberal response is one
of alarm and disgust–just another backdoor assault on multiculturalism and a way
for rich white boys from the Power Elite to assure their entrances to Harvard
and Yale. Allow me to commit liberal heresy by saying that this liberal male
thinks it may be a good thing for multiculturalism if the court trashes
affirmative action. It’s an ideal that’s long past its sell-by date.
“What!?” you cry. Let’s start with this. If the court
upholds that ideal that race can be used as an admissions criterion in
California, the immediate effect will be that qualified Asian students will be wait-listed and lesser-qualified white
students will take their place. Asian-heritage individuals constitute just 5.6%
of the U.S. population, but they will make up 46% of next fall’s incoming class
at UCal Berkeley (as opposed to just
30% Caucasian). Taking fewer Asians would have some effect on black and Latino
admissions, but California data shows that only 15% of African Americans and
13% of Latinos obtain a bachelors degree. (The graduation rate for whites is
31%; it’s 62% for Asians.) Put another way, there simply aren’t enough
qualified black and Latino students to make up the gap if California were to
halve the number of Asian students it accepts. It couldn’t even fill the
classrooms with good students if it was truly “diverse” and dropped the
acceptance rate to something close to Asian Americans’ overall representation
in society.
To evoke the title of a Neil Young song, comes a time–and
this may be it for affirmative action. Not because inequity has been erased
from American society, but because affirmative action is no longer the proper
vehicle for addressing it. Consider another angle. Affirmative action was also
designed to protect women and it has certainly helped them knock down social
barriers (though it’s only dented the glass ceiling). Liberals too often view
the present through the eyes of the past when it comes to correcting historic
patterns of injustice. Here’s a modern reality: by nearly every educational
standard, girls outperform boys in American schools. It’s not even close–girls
are kicking male butt! What this means is that if affirmative action were to be
replaced by race- and gender-blind admissions, way more women would be in
college and far fewer males would be admitted. That wouldn’t be a bad thing. They
already outnumber males 57% to 43%, but they also continue their performance
dominance. (Just over half of students entering college earn a degree within
six years, but the degree obtainment rate is 10% higher for women.) This is to
say that affirmative action targets may be doing more to protect Ivy League
slots for the male offspring of the Power Elite than blind admissions would
yield.
Liberals need to consider that well-intended affirmative
action policies may actually being perpetuating the slowness by which
multiculturalism and social justice intersect. Perhaps we have spent too much
time worrying about making places like Harvard and Yale “look like America.”
This is a distraction; one generally goes to places such as these because one
has little interest in being part of the hoi polloi. We can bemoan it from here
to Sunday, but after decades of affirmative action we’re still left with this:
it’s the Ivy League for the rich, state colleges for the middle class, and
community colleges for the poor. Affirmative action too often addresses
problems hard to solve because–to evoke an old slogan–the horse has already
left the barn. It does nothing to tackle the question of why there are,
relatively speaking, so few qualified students among African Americans, Latinos
and, yes, white males.
Comes a time. Liberals should consider giving up an outmoded
concept (affirmative action) and embracing some things that would really
matter: a new war on poverty, equal funding for all school districts,
state-mandated curriculums, tighter high school graduation requirements, an end to college
legacy admissions, caps on college tuition, and increased public funding for
colleges.
As unpalatable as it may sound, it may also be time for
liberals to stop excusing the
inexcusable and get on board with some cultural issues that would improve
educational achievement. Bill Cosby has long been vocal in asserting that
hip-hop culture often promotes violence, sexism, irresponsibility, and oppression
psychosis among black males and has the net effect of producing Stepin’
Fetchits rather than George Washington Carvers. I’ll let him speak for the
black community, but I’ll say that white American males are also in trouble if
we continue to accept the idea that, in high school, books are for girls and sports are for boys.
Don’t get me started on the myriad ways in which popular culture and partisan
politics make stupidity a badge of honor! That’s a whole other rant.
To return to the issue at hand, although I’m sure that many
of my fellow liberals will disagree, I’ll say it again–affirmative action was a
noble idea that has outlived its original purpose. It’s time for new strategies.
Comes a time.
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