Last week, the Supreme Court took a stand for justice. In a pair of decisions, the Court banned the longstanding process of “affirmative action” (a euphemism for racial preferences) in the college admissions process.
Reiterating a statement he made in 2007, Chief Justice John Roberts spoke for the six-justice majority: “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” Would that all Supreme Court decisions were explained with such commonsense clarity.
The Court’s three left-leaning justices dissented. They strongly believe that college admissions policies should continue to favor less-qualified black Americans over more-qualified Asian and white Americans due to historical discrimination against blacks.
While readily conceding the racial injustices of many historical policies, the perpetuation of racial discrimination (albeit with the shoe on the other foot) is highly problematic. In addition to its overt racism, how does one quantify how much reverse discrimination should take place in the present to offset unjust discrimination that took place in the past? What is the “right” quota of black students in a college or university student body? For how long should quotas remain in place? It’s impossible to answer these questions in a way that would satisfy everyone’s sense of fairness.
Another problem with the affirmative action admissions policies that were found unconstitutional is that the demographic slice of our population that has been disproportionately discriminated against in recent decades has been Asian Americans. What is just about that? Asian Americans weren’t the ones who wronged black Americans in the past; it was white folks.
There’s no justice at all in colleges declining to admit an Asian American to give the spot to an African American whose academic aptitude and achievement are far inferior. The underlying cause of the discrepancy between the two groups’ qualifications for college isn’t racial but cultural. Having taught in an American inner-city, I can vouch for the fact that it isn’t an inaccurate stereotype that a huge number of black kids spend their after-school hours socializing with their buddies, hanging out in the ’hood, playing basketball, etc. (Note: Not all, but many.) I should hasten to point out that there are huge numbers of white kids who likewise don’t prioritize homework, but spend their time hanging out, whiling away hours on social media, or whatever tickles their fancy. In the case of academically under-achieving kids, whatever their race or ethnicity, lack of parental emphasis on studying diligently is pronounced.
By contrast, a high percentage of Asian American kids have parents who make them “hit the books” for hours every evening after school, year after year. Some Asian parents even forbid their children to date before the age of 16 or 18 so as not to distract them from building a solid academic foundation for success in their adult lives. There’s no magic involved in their outstanding academic achievements. Their secret ingredient is hard work, reinforced by a cultural emphasis on hard work. It’s no wonder—and is certainly no scandal or injustice—that kids who concentrated on their studies throughout their primary and secondary school years are more intellectually developed and more academically advanced by the time they arrive at college age than those who shunned such efforts.
The gap in readiness for college work isn’t evidence of racial or genetic differences. It’s simply an illustration of the fact of life that human beings, regardless of race, tend to reap what they sow. Now that affirmative action has been curbed (I’d like to say “eliminated,” but that may be over-optimistic), we can envision an end to the appalling injustice of telling highly proficient, hard-working students that they can’t be accepted to a college because their spot is reserved for far-less-qualified students to fill a racial quota.
Even in its heyday, affirmative action for college admissions had its uncomfortable aspects. There never was a market for affirmative action doctors, engineers, etc. Weaker students often either flunked out of schools entirely, or were flushed out of the high-paying, meritocratic professions, and have had to settle for academic careers in less challenging fields, such as teaching and the liberal arts.
In closing, let me say that the most effective way for black Americans to get on equal footing in terms of future college admissions is not through affirmative action in college admissions. By then, it’s too late; the damage has already been done. The crux of the problem lies with underperforming primary and secondary schools that have held back the educational progress of black kids. As I mentioned above, some of that poor performance is attributable to a lack of parental encouragement and enforcement. But there are many black parents who yearn for their children to attend better schools. That’s why there are long waiting lists for so many urban charter schools. If primary and secondary education for black kids can be improved, then, when they’re of age, they will be more qualified to get into colleges on the basis of merit instead of affirmative action.
Here’s one proposal: Let’s abolish the U.S. Department of Education (DoE). Send pink slips to the entire staff, and let those who truly care about education become teachers, or start up schools of their own, or develop excellent texts and educational materials for kids. Then take DoE’s annual $82 billion budget and distribute it to every American school-age child to pay for attendance at the school of each family’s choice.
