WINEX said:
skek said:
I'm with WINEX and awgee, if I understand them correctly. Diversity for diversity's sake is racism in another form. If you treat everyone equally, you shouldn't have a problem interacting with folks of any ethnicity. I favor diversity of economic advantage. I'd be happy if schools made GPA and SAT allowances for people who grew up in deep poverty, without regard to race or ethnicity.
Except for that last sentence, we are in agreement. I grew up in a rough environment, but I think merit should determine everything. If someone can't keep pace with the rest of the group, does it really matter what the cause is? They still slow everyone else down and require additional attention.
I disagree. Imagine Kid #1. He or she grew up in the ghetto to a crack addict mother, no father, on public assistance, attended a crime ridden public school with no music, art or AP programs, lived on gang-infested streets and saw his little brother shot in a drive-by shooting, but somehow managed to earn a 3.5 GPA with no extracurriculars because he worked two jobs to keep the lights on. Imagine Kid #2. Upper middle class family, two parents, loads of opportunities, well funded public school with all the activities. Never had a job so he or she was able to load up on extracurriculars. GPA inflated by taking AP courses. Result, a GPA of 4.1 and tons of extracurriculars.
Let's say you are the admissions officer at the college. You'd take Kid #2? I'd take Kid #1. In my view, what he or she did in their environment is more meritorious than what Kid #2 did. There are plenty of Kid #2s in college, but very few Kid #1s. Kid #1 deserves a chance to succeed and break the cycle of poverty for his family. Note that I'm not talking about quotas or formulae.
It is an extreme example, sure, but if you define merit strictly by the numbers, you'd have to take Kid #2 over Kid #1. To me, it doesn't matter whether Kid #1 is white or black or otherwise, nor Kid #2. Kid #1 deserves the chance. America is a better place when we take kids like #1 and give them a seat at the table.