Reply to Affirmative Action should be income-based, not race-based

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]" I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. "

Martin Luther King, Jr.

I missed the part about "except for college admissions where the color of your skin matters a lot."[/quote]

Affirmative action is a partial remedy for outrageous racial discrimination, which still exists in housing, education, and employment.  [/quote]

FFS how many handicaps do you want and for how long? [/quote]

Until the cycle of poverty has been broken for all descendants of slaves.

[/quote]

Until you stop discriminating. The whole education system everywhere in the country is built around minimizing the number of black kids in the best schools. Suburbs are built around minimizing the number of black families in the best neighborhoods.

Before Affirmative Action, college admissions was not a meritocracy. It wasn’t even based on the students, as much as on the patronage, influence, and wealth of their parents. That is still there, but you have all been trained to blame all your disappointments on black people who just won’t in their place. [/quote]
OP here. First, your bitterness and anger isn't t good for your health.

Second, what you say about college admissions not being a meritocracy before Affirmative Action IS NOT TRUE. It's an excuse you are telling yourself as to why blacks did not get in.

My own (Jewish) parents are prime examples. They were both children of dirt-poor, uneducated immigrants (legal) who excelled in their impoverished Brookyn neighborhood schools. They both scored exceptionally well on the city-wide college entrance exam (my dad's score was #2 out of thousands of kids), and that entitled them to free admission to the City College of New York. (The school had such a fine reputation that it was known as "the poor man's Harvard.") My aunt and uncles all did the same. The school was overwhelmingly Jewish during the 40s when they went (smack in the middle of or immediate aftermath of having their relatives murdered in Europe), and yet, they did not let that attempted extermination of Jews stop them from doing well in school and competing successfully for a spot in CCNY. BLack NYC kids were welcomed to do the same.

This is what I based my OP proposal on, but I changed it to make it fair to poor inner-city blacks (as well as poor rural whites.) Rather than have poor blacks who have been disadvantaged by lower quality schools compete against others who have had advantages of wealthy suburban schools, I did not suggest a broad "top 5% of each state." Instead, I proposed going top 5% school-by-school.

So....you need to face that plenty of poor kids with HORRENDOUS tragedy going on -concurrently! - did go to college.

[/quote]

Correct. There are those that blame others and complain, and those that take self-action to better their lot in life. Those people come in all shapes, sizes, skin colors, and economic backgrounds.

If we’re talking about higher-ed, there should be no academic acceptance preference based on economic background. Admissions offices should not be allowed to see the name or the income or the race or the age or the address (below the county level) of the applicant. They should choose based on grades, test scores, extra-curricular (including jobs), and essay (if applicable). Once the applicant is given an accept rating, then the financial aid process should kick in and their income revealed to that separate department. A full scholarship should be automatically offferred to all accepted applicants with a family income level below a certain level. The money for this would come from diverting all institutional funds currently targeted at athletic scholarships and programs that do not generate significant revenue (yes, many of those sports programs would be shuttered or go back to “club” status). Excess money from the AD from big money programs like football and men’s basketball would also be used and college coach salaries capped by federal law. Funds would also come from federal grants. Those two sources are more than enough to satisfy this need. A graduated income to aid scale would be used above the minimium inciome threshold.  Also, pre-tax and tax-free 529 plans would be created at the federal level, allowing for use across all states and territories. This would help those that don’t qualify for aid, but still need some benefit to pay for escalating higher- ed costs. Finally, fed government and military intern (after sophomore year) and a 2 year optional paid residency programs (after graduation) would be offered to low income students in academically excellent standing. This would not only educate those that work hard in high school but also guarantee a job if they work hard in college. [/quote]

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