Reply to Harvard Class of 2020

Forum Index » College and University Discussion

Reply to "Harvard Class of 2020"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The system has been stacked against AAs for a long time. [b]Most AA kids are still in low quality public schools. I think as a society, we deserve to give them a boost in college admissions.[/b] Yes, some wealthy AA families get an unfair boost but they are a minuscule number. I am a white parent and am eternally grateful that my kids don't have to deal with the stigma of racism, unconscious bias and police targeting. Asians generally have a positive bias towards them which can be a help overall rather than an obstacle. Most people tend to generalize and assume when they meet an Asian person that they must be smart, hardworking and good at math whether that is actually true for the individual or not. Positive biases can be very helpful in pushing individuals along in life in a positive direction whether a person realizes it or not. [/quote]

I agree with the first bolded sentence, and strongly disagree with the second for many reasons.  The most important reason is that it doesn't fix the real issue.  ALL kids deserve good public school, a strong and safe community, and a loving family.  Giving a few black kids a space in an elite school that they are not prepared (or qualified) for is not likely to help them or the thousands of kids who are stuck with crappy public schools.  Also, even if the numbers are small (and I don't think they are as small as affirmative action advocates want to believe they are), the kids who work hard enough to have a fighting chance at admission to elite schools are not the part of "society" that should have to pay the price for crappy public schools.

It is shameful that our schools are still so bad.  The blame falls on many shoulders, including parents who don't give a crap about education, don't expect anything of their children or the schools, and expect someone else to solve the problem.  It also falls on the shoulders of administrators and politicians who refuse to tell people what they don't want to hear.  It falls on the shoulders of taxpayers who don't want to pay decent salaries to great teachers.

I think we should stop AA based on race, put more money toward improving schools and increasing the number of black students who deserve and are prepared for elite institutions (because there is no inherent reason they can't be), and stop making excuses.  [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics