White Latinos and affirmative action

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The way to exclude them that you are looking for would be to exclude them if they check off “white.”

A very large portion of Latinos check off white, as there is no Mestizo category or any other relevant category among the federal race categories listed in the Common App.

The American Indian or Alaska Native category does not typically apply, as that involves US federal tribe identification.

[Anonymous]

This happened in my high school, where a girl checked the box while coming from a European Mexican family on one side and an old money WASP family on the other. She hyphenated to include the Spanish last name legally but when she introduced herself or had her name in anything like a school concert she just used her WASP last name. She got into every school and ended up going to a top 2 SLAC. She of course dropped the Spanish last name after....doesn’t seem like she should have gotten the boost but it’s not a perfect system.

[Anonymous]

OP you misunderstand the reason colleges seek racial balance in admissions. It is NOT to amend for historical wrongs. it is SOLELY for the good of the college as they feel that balance helps them achieve their mission. End period.

You can disagree with the logic of course. But don't misunderstand it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This happened in my high school, where a girl checked the box while coming from a European Mexican family on one side and an old money WASP family on the other. She hyphenated to include the Spanish last name legally but when she introduced herself or had her name in anything like a school concert she just used her WASP last name. She got into every school and ended up going to a top 2 SLAC. She of course dropped the Spanish last name after....doesn’t seem like she should have gotten the boost but it’s not a perfect system.

You saw her application? Then in addition to knowing what she checked, you also know she was otherwise unqualified for admission? How?

[Anonymous]

Pick your poison. Sometimes someone’s gender might get them a boost. Or it could be their socioeconomic status. Or their legacy status. Or the family has gamed finances, or extracurriculars or ethnicity - the list goes on and on. The best a student can control is his or her own application. Do they really want to be admitted on the basis of being a poor student when they are not, or a black student when they are not, or an academically-qualified student when they are not. I personally would only support DC applying to schools that would accept DC as DC actually is, and where DC could thrive. I don’t get all the tomfoolery, but seems that a not-insignificant number of people can live with that.

[Anonymous]

Gat dang I hate identity politics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pick your poison. Sometimes someone’s gender might get them a boost. Or it could be their socioeconomic status. Or their legacy status. Or the family has gamed finances, or extracurriculars or ethnicity - the list goes on and on. The best a student can control is his or her own application. Do they really want to be admitted on the basis of being a poor student when they are not, or a black student when they are not, or an academically-qualified student when they are not. I personally would only support DC applying to schools that would accept DC as DC actually is, and where DC could thrive. I don’t get all the tomfoolery, but seems that a not-insignificant number of people can live with that.

We should ban the words "thrive" and "passion" related to schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This happened in my high school, where a girl checked the box while coming from a European Mexican family on one side and an old money WASP family on the other. She hyphenated to include the Spanish last name legally but when she introduced herself or had her name in anything like a school concert she just used her WASP last name. She got into every school and ended up going to a top 2 SLAC. She of course dropped the Spanish last name after....doesn’t seem like she should have gotten the boost but it’s not a perfect system.

You saw her application? Then in addition to knowing what she checked, you also know she was otherwise unqualified for admission? How?

Yes, like every small group of the top 20-30 kids in a graduating class, we all talked. I didn’t say she was unqualified, I said she got into schools others didn’t, including the valedictorian who was also all state athlete and musician/etc. had better stats than her. I don’t think affirmative action is meant to help people like her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The way to exclude them that you are looking for would be to exclude them if they check off “white.”

A very large portion of Latinos check off white, as there is no Mestizo category or any other relevant category among the federal race categories listed in the Common App.

The American Indian or Alaska Native category does not typically apply, as that involves US federal tribe identification.

+1 or don’t check anything at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pick your poison. Sometimes someone’s gender might get them a boost. Or it could be their socioeconomic status. Or their legacy status. Or the family has gamed finances, or extracurriculars or ethnicity - the list goes on and on. The best a student can control is his or her own application. Do they really want to be admitted on the basis of being a poor student when they are not, or a black student when they are not, or an academically-qualified student when they are not. I personally would only support DC applying to schools that would accept DC as DC actually is, and where DC could thrive. I don’t get all the tomfoolery, but seems that a not-insignificant number of people can live with that.

We should ban the words "thrive" and "passion" related to schools.

Would you prefer that I state this in the inverse - a school where DC “wouldn’t flounder.“ Lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not an affirmative action basher. I get it. I believe we need to take active steps to dismantle systems of oppression and I think this includes bringing underrepresented groups into elite schools even if its at the expense of others. I do think it should be class based rather than race based but that's a longer out thing. Here's my complaint for today: I keep seeing wealthy white Latino students from DD's school getting into top colleges. Like with many affirmative action cases, these kids are obviously qualified but the race box is what pushed them over the edge above a white or asian student. But here's the difference. These children don’t come from marginalized groups. Not only do these students present as white but they are almost universally upper class. Latin America has a race based class system like the US does. White Latinos are the oppressors in the same way WASPs have been in the US. It's ignorant and counterproductive to allow them to benefit from affirmative action. They don't need it to fight generations of oppression. I cannot think of a way to exclude these students from affirmative action without also boxing out peers from the same regions who have been negatively impacted by the colonizers so I don't think there's anything that can be done but it frustrates me to no end. I guess we've circled back to the need for affirmative action to be class based.

100%. I find this infuriating. As someone from a border state, I saw this growing up a lot. I knew a ton of white wealthy kids who were of Hispanic descent or 1/2 Hispanic. I'm 1/2 Hispanic but never checked the "latino" box because I know that I'm not exactly what the diversity panel is looking for. That said, a ton of kids from my affluent private school who had either 1 Hispanic parent or grandparent always checked the box to get that leg up, despite the preexisting wealth and privilege. I find this infuriating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This happened in my high school, where a girl checked the box while coming from a European Mexican family on one side and an old money WASP family on the other. She hyphenated to include the Spanish last name legally but when she introduced herself or had her name in anything like a school concert she just used her WASP last name. She got into every school and ended up going to a top 2 SLAC. She of course dropped the Spanish last name after....doesn’t seem like she should have gotten the boost but it’s not a perfect system.

You saw her application? Then in addition to knowing what she checked, you also know she was otherwise unqualified for admission? How?

Yes, like every small group of the top 20-30 kids in a graduating class, we all talked. I didn’t say she was unqualified, I said she got into schools others didn’t, including the valedictorian who was also all state athlete and musician/etc. had better stats than her. I don’t think affirmative action is meant to help people like her.

Sorry but there is no way to say this without it sounding rude - please know that is not my intention.

You didn't see her application, including her essays and recommendations, nor did you see the others. You aren't comparing their expected majors or intellectual backgrounds, which are key ingredients in building a class.

Sometimes kids with higher stats are passed over for those with slightly lower for many reasons, and you know admissions is not a numbers exercise; once you qualify, your numbers mean less and other criteria take hold - especially at a small LAC like Amherst and Williams. Maybe they had enough musicians? Also, an all-state athlete would likely be recruited. And let's not forget that occasionally top stats kids are passed over for yield protection.

You have no idea why she was admitted, or why the Val wasn't. It's very wrong, and unfair, to make your accusation. You should stop that. In all sincerity.

In addition, it has been explained that racial balance in admissions is NOT affirmative action.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This happened in my high school, where a girl checked the box while coming from a European Mexican family on one side and an old money WASP family on the other. She hyphenated to include the Spanish last name legally but when she introduced herself or had her name in anything like a school concert she just used her WASP last name. She got into every school and ended up going to a top 2 SLAC. She of course dropped the Spanish last name after....doesn’t seem like she should have gotten the boost but it’s not a perfect system.

You saw her application? Then in addition to knowing what she checked, you also know she was otherwise unqualified for admission? How?

Yes, like every small group of the top 20-30 kids in a graduating class, we all talked. I didn’t say she was unqualified, I said she got into schools others didn’t, including the valedictorian who was also all state athlete and musician/etc. had better stats than her. I don’t think affirmative action is meant to help people like her.

Sorry but there is no way to say this without it sounding rude - please know that is not my intention.

You didn't see her application, including her essays and recommendations, nor did you see the others. You aren't comparing their expected majors or intellectual backgrounds, which are key ingredients in building a class.

Sometimes kids with higher stats are passed over for those with slightly lower for many reasons, and you know admissions is not a numbers exercise; once you qualify, your numbers mean less and other criteria take hold - especially at a small LAC like Amherst and Williams. Maybe they had enough musicians? Also, an all-state athlete would likely be recruited. And let's not forget that occasionally top stats kids are passed over for yield protection.

You have no idea why she was admitted, or why the Val wasn't. It's very wrong, and unfair, to make your accusation. You should stop that. In all sincerity.

In addition, it has been explained that racial balance in admissions is NOT affirmative action.

That was something that people could believe before discovery in the Harvard case, now different sets of standards based on race are public record. Maybe that one girl was qualified, but hispanics are as a whole admitted to Harvard (the only elite school we have verified, non-manipulated data from) shows that hispanic applicants are held to a lesser standard than white or asian applicants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This happened in my high school, where a girl checked the box while coming from a European Mexican family on one side and an old money WASP family on the other. She hyphenated to include the Spanish last name legally but when she introduced herself or had her name in anything like a school concert she just used her WASP last name. She got into every school and ended up going to a top 2 SLAC. She of course dropped the Spanish last name after....doesn’t seem like she should have gotten the boost but it’s not a perfect system.

You saw her application? Then in addition to knowing what she checked, you also know she was otherwise unqualified for admission? How?

Yes, like every small group of the top 20-30 kids in a graduating class, we all talked. I didn’t say she was unqualified, I said she got into schools others didn’t, including the valedictorian who was also all state athlete and musician/etc. had better stats than her. I don’t think affirmative action is meant to help people like her.

Sorry but there is no way to say this without it sounding rude - please know that is not my intention.

You didn't see her application, including her essays and recommendations, nor did you see the others. You aren't comparing their expected majors or intellectual backgrounds, which are key ingredients in building a class.

Sometimes kids with higher stats are passed over for those with slightly lower for many reasons, and you know admissions is not a numbers exercise; once you qualify, your numbers mean less and other criteria take hold - especially at a small LAC like Amherst and Williams. Maybe they had enough musicians? Also, an all-state athlete would likely be recruited. And let's not forget that occasionally top stats kids are passed over for yield protection.

You have no idea why she was admitted, or why the Val wasn't. It's very wrong, and unfair, to make your accusation. You should stop that. In all sincerity.

In addition, it has been explained that racial balance in admissions is NOT affirmative action.

You are twisting yourself into a pretzel... maybe the school needed to fill the Hispanic quota.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The way to exclude them that you are looking for would be to exclude them if they check off “white.”

A very large portion of Latinos check off white, as there is no Mestizo category or any other relevant category among the federal race categories listed in the Common App.

The American Indian or Alaska Native category does not typically apply, as that involves US federal tribe identification.

Well considering all the assumptions OP is already making, why not just assume someone who identifies as “white” doesn’t need affirmative action? The whole point is that we have no idea people’s backgrounds OR how schools ultimately make decisions. People also often don’t understand the race/ethnicity/heritage as it applies to Latinos (try explaining to my mom my Latino husband is “black!”).