Michelle Obama: I wanted to share some of my thoughts on today's Supreme Court decision...

[wnylib]

33. But that was not the point that Michelle was making, so

your "thanks" did not fit her message.

It is immoral to exclude people because of race, too. And that is what usually happens when affirmative action does not exist. You seem to have the misconception about affirmative action that many people have. It does not mean that unqualified people get admitted to college. It means that, among qualified people, those who are included in affirmative action get an additional 1 point to the point scale that colleges use to decide on admissions. That compensates for the fact that Blacks and other minorities are often overlooked or excluded in admissions.

Michelle mentions legacy admissions. Those are really immoral. So qualified Black students (and other students of all ethnicities and races) can be rejected for admission while a.less qualified student gets admitted just because one parent graduated from the college. If affirmative action is eliminated, then legacy admissions should also be eliminated.

Intelligent, capable students from poor families often go to substandard high schools that do not prepare them for college. Some colleges, like the private one that my husband attended, accept good students from inferior high schools and give them tutoring in the summer prior to the start of classes to bring them up to par. Those students were very successful at college and later. They had the ability but through no fault of their own were not prepared for college by their high schools. (My husband tutored those students.)

Systemic racism cuts off some people from opportunities. Affirmative action was designed to overcome those disadvantages.

In a perfect world, race and ethnicity would mot matter in jobs and college admission. But in a racist country, with racism built into the system, it matters very much.