Reply #55: yes

[tishaLA]

I think we also need to account for socio-economic factors, but race and socio-economic factors often, but not always, work in conjunction with each other. What we need is a more complex way of addressing the issue--like holistic evaluations--but affirmative action is better than nothing.

Now, to those of you who are going to kvetch about deserving whites being kept out of our institutions of higher learning, I have news for you. BULLSHIT! I teach college kids at one of America's best universities and I can tell you that, by my estimation, about 40% simply do not "deserve" to be here and could be replaced by any warm piece of flesh. How do they get picked? By joining the right clubs in high school, having access to the right classes to get the right GPA, having the money to get SAT prep classes, etc. Many of them, despite these things that are supposed to indicate academic success, cannot write or reason with greater acuity than students I teach who get in the "back door" (i.e., those who transfer from community colleges).