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For many, the college admissions scam rich people who allegedly paid bribes to get their children into elite universities only confirmed what they already knew: higher education rigged for the benefit of rich white students. But the scandal has also exposed the irony of people who complain that positive discrimination gives unfair advantage to color students accused of being admitted, while in fact, children rich and white get the balance heavily in their favor.
"This scandal is only the extreme, the illegal illegal, but it is a continuum of historical admissions, with Jared Kushner, with all these other strengths on the legality of wealthy children, "said Susan Dynarski, professor of economics, education and public policy at the University of Michigan.
"There are many more kids in elite colleges because their parents are wealthy than because they are brown or black," she added.
Critics of positive action policies – which allow higher education institutions to take into account to some extent the race or ethnicity of a candidate – claim that they confer an unfair advantage on non-white students .
But the experts HuffPost spoke to emphasized the many ways, even without reaching illegal people, that access to higher education is already structured to benefit rich white students over others.
Sarah Hinger, a lawyer from Racial Justice Program of the American Civil Liberties Union, highlighted "non-criminal methods that privilege privileges, such as inherited admission preferences, donations and athletic scholarships, as well as experiences well before college, such as private tutors and preparations for tests to enter kindergarten to grade 12 schools.
"Socially, we are used to families seeking to benefit their children through these methods," said Hinger. "And the ability to do so is a privilege that goes largely back to the wealthiest white families."
Meanwhile, in response to the cheating scandal, many people of color on Twitter who attended elite schools explained that they were often unfairly considered to be present because of positive activities, so that wealthy white students were not targeted for their presence. wealth.
"I was told when I arrived in Amherst [College] Anthony Jack, an badistant professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, said that I was a "positive action baby." "And at Harvard as a graduate student and faculty member, it's used as an insult."
Hinger emphasized the acceptance, or relative lack of criticism, of the benefits of wealth and privilege over frequent criticism of affirmative action programs.
"The irony is that race-based positive action or admission programs aim to mitigate the disparities created by the privilege, even at least slightly on the ground," she said. added.
"Who's thumb on the scales?" Said Dynarski. "Basically, they are not low-income brown or black children, but rich children. … If you look around a university campus and think about who came in because of a thumb on the scale, it's the rich heritage of white kids. "
Thinking about all the black, brown and low – income students who come to the university and who feel like they do not deserve to be there, while so many of them do not deserve to be there. Rich students basically have their parents buying their way to these schools and rarely experience the same skepticism.
– Clint Smith (@ClintSmithIII) March 12, 2019
You will see many people of color saying that today, but let me add my voice to the chorus. The high school white mates said, in my opinion, that I would go to college just to be black.
– brown wikipedia, chiberian tiger (@eveewing) March 12, 2019
It is a notable "lie" in the positive action debate that color students who enter a school that uses positive action on admission are not as qualified as the others, according to Jin Hee Lee. , which oversees the education and economic development of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. work of justice. When Harvard considers all students, given the high demand for entry, they consider race as a factor among a group of "exceptionally qualified" students, she noted.
"For black and latin students to be seen as not deserving to go to selected universities, that does not reflect the facts," said Lee, noting that they are students with grades, test scores, extracurricular and more "exceptional" activities. "Black and Latin children are seen as a surprise for them to be smart or to be less capable, whereas this is really not the case."
Meanwhile, this ploy of wealthy parents who allegedly bribed sports coaches and exam supervisors to obtain an illegal "entry" for their children is only "the tip of the iceberg," as said Jack.
"A lot of people are focusing on this scandal. It's the culmination of a lifetime of opportunity-building, of parents thinking that their kids deserve better than others, "said Jack, pointing out parents who hire private tutors to improve SAT scores of their kids and writing coaches to mbadage their kids college apps. "It's a story of power and privilege that recurs."
Many people are focusing on this scandal. … This is the culmination of a lifetime of hoarding opportunities, of parents thinking that their children deserve better than other people.
Dr. Anthony Jack, Assistant Professor, Harvard Graduate School of Education
In the United States, wealthy families already use a variety of methods, in addition to illegal methods, to buy their children's way to college, including significant donations to schools, such as KushnerFather promised $ 2.5 million to Harvard University. Then there are extra tutors, essay writers and interview preparation professionals who help the elite bring their kids to the Ivy League schools.
But what is perhaps the most outrageous, experts say, is the issue of legacy admissions – or students being more likely to be accepted simply because a parent or other family member attended.
"Legacies, in particular, are a positive action for people who have had a very privileged life," said Dynarski.
Legacy tipped the scales heavily in favor of the applicant – and disproportionately favors white students. At Harvard University, for example, inherited candidates were accepted almost five times faster non-legacies – accepted legacy candidates were accepted at a rate of almost 34% between 2009 and 2015, compared to a rate of 5.9% for non-legacies during the same period, by RPN.
"It is absolutely hypocritical that alumni children enjoy an advantage in admissions when there is no moral social justification or historical legacy of any kind. exclusion, "said Jack.
a simple reminder that many parents of the upper middle clbad (legally) improve their children's SAT scores by paying tutors to teach them how to manipulate the system. mine did. my math score jumped almost 200 points, which, I promise, does not reflect any similar increase in my * math *
– zoe kazan (@zoeinthecities) March 12, 2019
"Positive Action: White Privilege Edition Edition", with Aunt Becky and Lynette ?? https://t.co/DakMXaEqrA
– Jose Antonio Vargas (@joseiswriting) March 12, 2019
And that's not surprising. That kind of thing, college preparation, and so on. is the positive action of the rich.
– gay roxane (@rgay) March 12, 2019
Positive action based on race was aimed at correcting historical and systemic inequalities in access to education because of race.
Hinger referred to the long and well-documented history of racial discrimination in the United States, which ranged from legally separated public schools to racial wealth. She pointed out that benefits such as inheritance admissions probably had a greater impact on college admissions than race considerations.
"The interest, whether based on race or clbad, is to try to counter the huge inequalities that block these children up to primary and secondary school – they are slightly stimulated at entry to school. college, "said Dynarski. . "The benefit to alumni is not close."
Even with positive action, black and Hispanic students are more under-represented in Ivy League schools as many decades ago, according to The New York Times.
Meanwhile, whites are the racial group most likely to oppose affirmative action, according to The Washington Post. According to a 40-year public opinion survey, nearly two-thirds of whites opposed such policies, compared with only 10% of blacks.
Positive action has also been threatened several times in recent years, with a highly publicized lawsuit involving the University of Texas (paradoxically one of the schools that alleged crooks would have bought to bring in their children). In 2016, in the Fisher v. University of Texas, the Supreme Court ruled that the use of the breed as a factor of admission was constitutional.
More recently a lawsuit against Harvard, arguing that the university is discriminatory with respect to US-Asian candidates, is likely to bring another decision of affirmative action in the High Court.
If you look at a university campus and think about who came in because of a thumb on the scale, that's the rich heritage of white children.
Susan Dynarski, Professor at the University of Michigan
Some people have argued that this cheating scandal in elite colleges has only amplified how programs such as affirmative action were needed to equalize the odds in a system already designed to benefit rich whites.
"What these parents are accused of doing is paying to give their children an advantage over all others – an advantage they did not deserve – so that they could be admitted to the school. of their choice. Because that is how the privilege works. This is how the privilege of whites works, "writes Monique Judge in an article for The root.
"Shame on everyone involved in this case. And shame for those who still think that a positive action is useless, "she said.
And processes that provide unjust benefits to children and adults with wealthy parents do not start or stop on college admissions, Jack noted.
"Do not think it's just a moment. It's a life-long system, "he said, noting that it's the same types of parents who pay their children's rent so that they can afford to do so. prestigious unpaid internship or call a friend for their children to do one. .
"It's a power and a privilege to put yourself in positions you do not win," he said. "If that does not show you the myth of meritocracy, I do not know what will happen."
I keep this article in my favorites and whenever I hear about positive action or how black kids want things without working for it, I will just post them. Again and again and again.
– Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) March 12, 2019
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