this post was submitted on 29 Jun 2023
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[–] The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world 28 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Asking prospective students for their skin color when they apply to your school should be unthinkable.

[–] queermunist@lemmy.world 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

"I want to attend your school just like my grandfather" = This is fine

"I want to attend your school because my grandfather wasn't allowed to" = This is not

Think about that for a second.

[–] The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world 30 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Legacy admissions shouldn't be a thing either, imo. It should be 100% about merit.

[–] queermunist@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Absolutely.

And until that's the case, there's a clear double standard that benefits white people.

[–] TheCraiggers@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

A pure merit-based approach also overwhelming benefits white people though, because they have a lot more generational income to help their kids get ahead in life.

[–] BombOmOm@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Hook me up with that generational wealth. The ATM doesn’t accept race as a condition for providing money.

[–] Aceticon@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Rich people.

It benefits rich people.

Do the "affirmative action" on the basis of how wealthy a person's background is and you get many more people from minorities than without it, whilst not unfairly helping people with the right genetics from wealthy backgrounds and ignoring people with the wrong genetics from poor backgrounds.

Strangely the solution of simply helping kids from poor backgrounds is never chosen, and instead it's always "lets help people who happen to have a certain set of genes even if their parents are filthy rich and their life has been a long red carpet so far, same as the non-minority kids".

"Let's not talk about wealth" (the gigantic, crushing elephant in the room) whilst doing a Theatre Of Equality is quite a peculiar American thing.

[–] sirnak@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Wait is this actually a thing?

[–] Donjuanme@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

Legacy is a much more weighted merit than affirmative action was.

[–] plz1@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Honestly, asking anyone for race on any application for anything shouldn't be a thing. With the exception of medical things specific to race, it's completely unnecessary. Unless I'm missing something glaring, other than perpetuating systematic disenfranchisement.

[–] AdamEatsAss@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

It's a way for the college admissions to combat the systemic racism already present in USA society. It treats a symptom of a larger issue. A college cannot help with all the disadvantages minority students face throughout thier primary education but they can account for that in admissions.

[–] JesusTheCarpenter@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

While I agree that requiring people to reveal their ethnicity should be a no-no for anything other than medical, asking for people to volunteer this information makes sense.

In UK in many places giving ethnicity is optional and the results are used to monitor how different groups aka "races" are doing. This then can be used for research.

[–] RIotingPacifist@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago (15 children)

But asking them who their father is is fine?

If people gave a shit about fairness they'd care about legacy admission more than affirmative action.

[–] The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

No, that's not fine either and should also be outlawed due to a history of systemic racism giving some people an advantage over others.

It should be 100% merit based, plain and simple. It's the only fair way.

[–] RIotingPacifist@lemmy.world 17 points 1 year ago (10 children)

Funny how we addressed the tool that helped black kids first, rather than the one that hurt them.

Maybe it's because this is being pushed by bad people, that you seem to agree with under some fantasy of "100% merit based" reality.

Systemic biases exist, AA compensated for them banking AA is basically pretending this nation isn't racist AF.

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[–] kofe@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

That's not how it's going to play out in reality, unfortunately. I truly wish it were.

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[–] derf82@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Neither is ok. But only one likely violates the constitution. Congress could make legacy admissions illegal if they wanted to.

[–] Donjuanme@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Congress could've made affirmative action illegal if they wanted to?

But only one side works as the majority's dog whistle.

[–] derf82@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Yes. Even noted red state California (/s) voted in a referendum to make the practice illegal.

I really appreciate this take, because it reminded me that I can always call my congressman (or at least their office) and voice my opinion to ears that might be able to do something about it.

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