GOOD NEWS, everyone. The Supreme Court has upheldthe use of race in college admissions. Whew, for a minute there I thought I'd come back to school in the fall, and everyone would be white.
Because that's what would happen, right? People whose skin isn't white need those extra points because they obviously aren't capable of getting in based on their own merits, right?
This is what the Supreme Court's decision and affirmative action programs say to me.
The June 23 decision is murky. There's really no other word to describe it. In it, the Court endorses the use of race in college admissions, but only to a vaguely defined extent.
Universities can use race as a factor in the admissions process, but cannot use systems that are or seem like quotas and must adopt race-neutral programs "as soon as practicable." Also, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote that in 25 years, the court expects that racial preferences "will no longer be necessary."
So from what I understand, this is what the Supreme Court tells us about race-based admissions: Race will be used in college admissions, but not too much, and being a minority won't guarantee an acceptance, but it's pretty darn helpful -- and don't worry, someday none of this will even be an issue because we'll all have gone to race-neutral systems at some undefined time. Got that?
Affirmative action is a very, very well-intentioned ideal. Its goal is to create a diverse campus, free from racial prejudice and reflective of the racial makeup of the country. Diversity is undoubtedly a valuable educational tool necessary on college campuses. Essentially, we learn a lot from those who aren't exactly like us.
However, current affirmative action programs are patronizing and stigmatizing. Oh, you're black? Well, obviously you're not as qualified for this school as that white kid over there. We won't even bother to look at your test scores or your extracurriculars or this essay you've written. We'll just give you this boatload of extra points that you obviously need and put you in the "in" pile, and don't we feel so gosh darn good for helping you out?
What kind of message does it send to say that minority students need an extra boost to be accepted into a school? It says that they wouldn't get in otherwise, which is so utterly ridiculous, it's laughable. It also stigmatizes a minority student for their entire college career, because with racial preference systems at work, there will always be someone who wonders whether a student was accepted based on their own merits, or simply because of the color of their skin.
The Supreme Court's decision aims to ensure that colleges are diverse. But when did the word "diverse" come to apply to skin color only? Diversity extends far beyond the skin, to religion, gender, nationality, political affiliation and simple diversity of thought, yet there are no programs to ensure that these factors are all represented. Since when did the color of one's skin become any more important to education than any of these?
Current affirmative action programs do little more than deny admission to qualified students while admitting less qualified students. Studies show that students who benefit the most from affirmative action are wealthy minority students who don't need it. Through a racial-preference system, a minority student with a "B" average will be accepted over a non-minority student with an "A" average, yet the two students had access to the same high-quality education.
Studies also show that the Court's decision does not, as The Washington Post asserted in its front-page headline, "mirror public opinion". Poll after poll, some of them even cited in the article itself, shows that the majority of Americans disagree with racial preferences and current systems.
The only opinion that the Court mirrored was that of a political elite. Of course wealthy, liberal politicians support race-based admissions. If colleges were forced to crack down on racial preferences, they would soon crack down on factors like legacy and monetary donations and, oh, geez, there go the chances of the kids of every politician in Washington.
Truth be told, racial preferences and the Supreme Court's murky decision to uphold them in college admissions, though well-intentioned, patronizes and stigmatizes the same students it strives to aid. If students aren't treated equally in the admissions process, they'll never understand that they are, regardless of skin color, equals.
(Kristin Brown is a Cavalier Daily columnist. She can be reached at kbrown@cavalierdaily.com.)
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