Affirmative Action
our take...
af·firm·a·tive ac·tion
/əˈfɜr·mə·t̬ɪv ˈæk·ʃən/
: the practice of improving the educational and job opportunities of members of groups that have not been treated fairly in the past because of their race, sex, etc.
The Bottom Line
In the college admissions process, our focus should shift from race to socioeconomic factors.
In no way do we believe all the damaging consequences of our nation’s egregious history of racial discrimination have been remedied. Persistent, substantial educational achievement gaps alone prove they most certainly have not been.
That said, we are convinced our social policies must steadily evolve as we continue along our arc toward justice. If they don’t, we run the risk of them becoming counter-productive for the very communities they were designed to help in the first place.
Shifting our focus from race to socioeconomic factors seems to align with Dr. Martin Luther King’s thinking. He was an advocate – especially later in his life – of helping the disadvantaged of all races: “It is a simple matter of justice that America, in dealing creatively with the task of raising the Negro from backwardness, should also be rescuing a large stratum of the forgotten white poor.”
Dr. King was also aware of the resentments and potential backlash that could arise among the white working class if they felt ignored and forgotten: “It is my opinion that many white workers whose economic condition is not too far removed from the economic condition of his black brother, will find it difficult to accept a ‘Negro Bill of Rights,’ which seeks to give special consideration to the Negro in the context of unemployment, joblessness, etc. and does not take into sufficient account of the white working classes’ plight.”
Unfortunately, assessing socioeconomic factors instead of a person’s race still disproportionately captures black Americans.
In 2023, 36.8 million Americans lived in poverty (11 percent of the population). Breaking down the numbers by race, 17.9 percent of black Americans lived in poverty compared with 7.7 percent of white, not Hispanic Americans.
The 2023 median income of black households was $56,490 while the median income of white, not Hispanic households was $89,050.
The racial wealth gap is staggering. There is a $240,110 difference in wealth between the median white household ($285,000) and the median black household ($44,890).
There are many ways colleges and universities can create more diverse student bodies:
Compare the performance of students of similar backgrounds and life circumstances. Factors should include things like high school demographics, neighborhood poverty rates, and the parent(s)’ occupations and education obtainment. Here, household incomes can also come into play, a factor not usually helpful taken by itself because, although black families are over-represented among poorer households, there are still many poorer white households due to the overall makeup of the U.S. population.
Expand the college application pool by recruiting heavily in predominately minority areas.
No longer require standardized tests for admissions.
Eliminate automatic admissions for children of faculty and staff, along with legacy preferences.
Increase transfers from community colleges.
Increase financial aid for poor and working-class students.