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Chazz's avatar

I was against affirmative action until Jesse hired Yassine to guest post

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Katrina Gulliver's avatar

Great post. Your comment on Affirmative Action raises a serious issue. If beneficiaries tend to be recent immigrants from Africa or the West Indies: why should a Nigerian immigrant get a leg up on college admission over an immigrant from Korea or Russia?

The vagueness of "Hispanic" is likewise problematic: does having grandparents from Galicia (Spain) make you more deserving than someone with grandparents from Galicia (Poland)?

The bigger picture, beyond the specificities of racial check-boxes, is that whatever system is imposed to "redress" or "adjust" things, will be immediately gamed by those already in an advantageous social position.

The educated, the tuned-in, the strategic, will figure out how to shake that family tree, or get a convenient diagnosis (extra time on the SAT?), or adjust their financial situation (I know people whose parents tactically "disowned" them so they'd qualify for scholarships and grants).

If it can be scammed, it will be scammed, which is why I don't like these programs (much as like Bernstein I agree with the principle of redress for Native Americans and victims of slavery/Jim Crow)

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