Is Affirmative Action Good for Anyone?
with John McWhorter & Richard Kahlenberg
One of the problems with race-based affirmative action in college admissions is that it attempts to ameliorate disparities at the end of the developmental process rather than the beginning. If we want to address lagging academic performance in black students, we have to intervene sooner, in early childhood rather than near the end of adolescence. Richard Kahlenberg argues that we should pivot from race-based affirmative action to class-based affirmative action, but will that fix the underlying problem? Doesn’t it risk imposing similar stigmas on working-class students that it imposes on black students? I put those questions to him in this clip from our conversation.
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As I have gotten older I my opinion of affirmative action has declined. At this point I suspect the costs exceed the benefits. Groups that are believed to have benefited from affirmative action are assumed to be less competent.
I don't think that affirmative action is really needed. And I truly don't care about the Ivy's, which are primarily polishing schools for the privileged.
My youngest daughter did a degree in civil engineering. Civil engineering is one of the obvious tracks out of the working class and she knew a number of students who had been in the service or had worked contruction who did one of the less mathematically challenging tracks in civil engineering, such as construction management. The students still have to meet the bar to graduate, but the field is open to students from poorer backgrounds.
My son did business. It was not as intellectually rigorous as his sister's engineering curicculum, but he still had to do lots of group projects, presentations, and analysis - and learned that the teams still had to deliver even when individual members failed - lots more work for him as team leader. You do have to know your material, be able to work with others, and in many areas a gift for gab helps a lot.
Affirmative Action creates an army of talented victims. So it’s good for anyone who wants to see civil conflict.