Affirmative Action

What’s the issue? A leaked internal memo from the Trump administration suggests that the Trump administration is gearing up to sue colleges using affirmative action for discrimination against white students. (The Justice Department currently claims that the memo referred only to a specific complaint from Asian American students agains Harvard, despite leaks to the contrary). Affirmative action can be used in any application process, but in this blog I’ll be focusing on affirmative action in college admissions, which is where the memo also focuses. While affirmative action can benefit (or hurt) all races, I am mostly focusing on black and white students here.

Why do I care? Affirmative action is one small way of recognizing that white Americans typically have access to more opportunities than people of color. When John F. Kennedy introduced affirmative action in 1961, he said that an black baby, “born in America today, regardless of the section of the state in which he is born, has about one half as much chance of completing a high school as a white baby, born in the same place on the same day, one-third as much chance of completing college.” Thankfully these gaps have closed somewhat since then, but they still persist. In 2015, 87.6% of white students graduated from high school, while only 74.6% of black students did. As for college, in 2013, 60.7% of white students who attended a four year institution graduated, along with only 40.3% of black students. What’s more, the gap in college graduation rates in 2013 had actually increased from the gap in 2003.

These gaps, of course, are the culmination of centuries of outright and implicit discrimination against people of color in the United States. (Many of my other blog posts discuss some of the ways our society has and still does discriminate against people of color today). Affirmative action doesn’t fix this, but it is one tool we have at our disposal to help correct a small part of these wrongs. It is especially important for college admissions because a college degree is widely seen as one of the best ways to move up the economic ladder.

To be clear, affirmative action does not force colleges to admit people who don’t deserve to be there. Most colleges receive far more qualified applications than spots they can fill. Affirmative action just allows colleges to look at race as part of the larger picture when considering each application. Opponents of affirmative action often focus on the fact that this allows minority students with lower test scores gain admission over white students with higher scores. That is true, but it also worth noting that the standardized tests normally used for college admissions also show a gap in scores between black and white students. There is some evidence that the test itself exhibits bias, but even if it doesn’t, it reflects the racial bias in American society. So relying on test scores is just another example of how the entire process is already tipped in favor of white students, making affirmative action even more necessary.

What’s more, the legality of affirmative action has been confirmed three times by the Supreme Court, most recently in 2016. In the end, society as a whole benefits when college students have the opportunity to learn alongside peers from different races and backgrounds, breaking down barriers and expanding their views.

What you can do if you care too:

1. Pay attention. So far the Justice Department has denied that it is seeking to attack affirmative action that benefits black and latino students, despite the leaked memo. However, this is an issue that will likely evolve over time. Set-up a news alert, and stay informed. When the time comes, make sure to contact your representatives!
2. Learn more. This is an excellent piece from the New Yorker that dives into some of the nuances of what affirmative action means for Asian Americans, and how it doesn’t have to be at odds with what is needed for blacks and latinos. Additionally there are interesting arguments to be made that colleges should look at other markers of disadvantaged students other than race. I have no faith that the Trump administration will dive into the nuance of the issue to make it better, but affirmative action is complicated. You can start with the Atlantic’s primer on affirmative action here.
3. Don’t perpetuate myths. Speak out if you here someone saying that a person would not have been admitted to a college because of their race. Similarly, if you are white, don’t blame your rejection on the admission of minorities.