<p>"Aren’t programs such as AA, college admission “points” for being URM and employment quotas examples of giving non-whites some advantage? "</p>
<ol>
<li>Employment quotas are illegal.</li>
<li>I believe that the Supreme Court decision of last year also made it illegal for URMs to get college points for being URMs.</li>
<li>Affirmative action is supposed to mean that if there are 2 equally qualified applicants, the URM will get the job/college opening. </li>
</ol>
<p>The advantage of URM is highly overrated. I am an alum interviewer for an Ivy and I get to see all sorts of applicants. In my area, no URM has been accepted in at least 5 years. The people whom I see who clearly have an advantage are legacies, and due to historic discrimination against URMs at my college (and at many colleges), the legacy pool is overwhelmingly white. </p>
<p>When it comes to the very top candidates, regardless of race, all are extraordinary with scores typically in at least the National Merit Commended level and achievements that usually include at least one state level honor. I have seen URMS – Native American, Hispanic, blacks with such stellar achievements rejected as is also the case with white and Asian students.</p>
<p>I don’t see any evidence of discrimination for or against the URMs. I think that the field is very competitive. If one happens to be a legacy of any race with the kind of achievements that I described, one is likely to be tipped in. If one is a legacy who’s a URM but who doesn’t have the achievements that I described, one is likely to be bested by someone else who does have those achievements plus legacy status.</p>
<p>URMS are at a disadvantage when it comes to legacy status at most top colleges. For those who don’t know, discrimination against URMs occurred at even northern colleges. For instance, Princeton didn’t accept its first black student until 1945. Places like Davidson, University of Alabama and many other colleges didn’t accept black students until the 1960s. Undertandably, black students didn’t flock to places that historically had been hostile against them.</p>
<p>And, believe it or not, there were black students who were extremely qualified for such colleges. For instance, around 1915, Dunbar High School, the black academic high school in Washington D.C. was outscoring the white academic high school there.</p>
<p>Coleman Young (a Tuskeegee airman who later became mayor of Detroit) was accepted by University of Detroit, and that acceptance was revoked when they realized he was black.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, yes, there are programs in place for poor and disadvantaged white people. Upward Bound and, I believe, Trio offer precollege summer programs and tutoring and mentoring for people of any race who are low income and first generation college students.</p>
<p>Many colleges are seeking out low income, first generation college students of all races. A white candidate from, for example, a low income community in Appalachia, with grades/stats indicating that s/he could succeed at a top college would be a highly desireable candidate. My guess is that due to the rarity of such candidates at places like Ivies and East Coast top LACs, s/he would be even more advantaged in the admissions pool than would a URM from a privileged background.</p>
<p>As for your doubts that it’s harder to fight your way upstream if you’re nonwhite: There have been plenty of studies indicating that if one is black, sounds black or has a black sounding name that one is treated in a more negative fashion than would a similarly dressed, educated, etc. person who is white.</p>
<p>Studies have indicated that black shoppers are followed around more by security guards than are similarly dressed white shoppers. The resumes of applicants with black sounding names are less likely to result in calls for interviews than are the same resumes with a white sounding name at the top. </p>
<p>Callers with black or Hispanic sounding accents are less likely to be told that apartments are available than are the exact same people who call with “white” sounding accents.</p>
<p>From what I experienced myself as a black person and what I have seen happen to my sons, I am convinced that teachers and administrators of all races are more likely to see black students’ work as mediocre even when the work is excellent.</p>
<p>Both of my sons are gifted and had PSAT scores in the commended level. Their scores were in at least the top 10% of their class. </p>
<p>I repeatedly saw instances in which teachers and administrators either praised them for things that were mediocre (such as barely making honor roll or simply passing their classes with Bs, Cs).</p>
<p>I also saw instances in which my sons did things that were way over the top in terms of being brilliant that the teachers either ignored or viewed as evidence of mediocrity. </p>
<p>There’s a psychological phenomenon called the “halo effect” which means that if teachers expect excellence out of individual students, that is what will happen even if those students have no more ability than do the other students. Students will rise to teacher’s expectations, and if teachers believe in students’, the teachers will find ways to allow the students to achieve.</p>
<p>Some research has indicated that people in general stereotype black males as being lazy, stupid and criminal. Probably there also are negative perceptions about black females. I am convinced that when it comes to black students, there’s a negative halo effect. Teachers expect them to be mediocre, so don’t reinforce their good work, and also convey their expectations to black students that the students will barely get by.</p>