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As always my question is *why* are certain minorities under represented or whatever at MIT? Cannot afford tuition and associated costs? Academic performance? Quality of applicants? One needs answers to those and other questions before simply assuming AA is necessary because certain demographics are under represented.
It's really only whites who are underrepresented at MIT. Whites are 36% of the student body and 75% of the white population in Massachusetts and ~60% for the nation as a whole. The college-age white percentages are likely a little lower, but nowhere near 36%.
MIT is $42k per year which puts it out of reach of most lower class white students who do not get the same advantages that lower class minority students get:
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When controls are added for other student and institutional characteristics, these authors find that "on an other-things-equal basis, [white] applicants from low-SES backgrounds, whether defined by family income or parental education, get essentially no break in the admissions process; they fare neither better nor worse than other [white] applicants."
Lower-class/poor whites do not get any advantage compared to higher-class whites.
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Distressing as many might consider this to be--since the same institutions that give no special consideration to poor white applicants boast about their commitment to "diversity" and give enormous admissions breaks to blacks, even to those from relatively affluent homes--Espenshade and Radford in their survey found the actual situation to be much more troubling. At the private institutions in their study whites from lower-class backgrounds incurred a huge admissions disadvantage not only in comparison to lower-class minority students, but compared to whites from middle-class and upper-middle-class backgrounds as well. The lower-class whites proved to be all-around losers. When equally matched for background factors (including SAT scores and high school GPAs), the better-off whites were more than three times as likely to be accepted as the poorest whites (.28 vs. .08 admissions probability). Having money in the family greatly improved a white applicant's admissions chances
They're actually disadvantaged compared to higher-class whites, all other things being equal.
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When lower-class whites are matched with lower-class blacks and other non-whites the degree of the non-white advantage becomes astronomical: lower-class Asian applicants are seven times as likely to be accepted to the competitive private institutions as similarly qualified whites, lower-class Hispanic applicants eight times as likely, and lower-class blacks ten times as likely. These are enormous differences and reflect the fact that lower-class whites were rarely accepted to the private institutions Espenshade and Radford surveyed. Their diversity-enhancement value was obviously rated very low.
While lower-class minorities are given a huge advantage.
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The enormous disadvantage incurred by lower-class whites in comparison to non-whites and wealthier whites is partially explained by Espenshade and Radford as a result of the fact that, except for the very wealthiest institutions like Harvard and Princeton, private colleges and universities are reluctant to admit students who cannot afford their high tuitions. And since they have a limited amount of money to give out for scholarship aid, they reserve this money to lure those who can be counted in their enrollment statistics as diversity-enhancing "racial minorities." Poor whites are apparently given little weight as enhancers of campus diversity, while poor non-whites count twice in the diversity tally, once as racial minorities and a second time as socio-economically deprived. Private institutions, Espenshade and Radford suggest, "intentionally save their scarce financial aid dollars for students who will help them look good on their numbers of minority students." Quoting a study by NYU researcher Mitchell Stevens, they write: "ultimate evaluative preference for members of disadvantaged groups was reserved for applicants who could be counted in the college's multicultural statistics. This caused some admissions officers no small amount of ethical dismay."
So these institutions accept the higher class whites who can afford tuition, and then use their scholarships/aid on lower class minorities because they count twice for diversity- once for race, and another time for class, whereas the lower class white student only counts once for class. If you are a white student from a lower-class family, you really get shat on by the whole process.
[quote=EugeneOnegin;33898610]It's really only whites who are underrepresented at MIT. Whites are 36% of the student body and 75% of the white population in Massachusetts and ~60% for the nation as a whole. The college-age white percentages are likely a little lower, but nowhere near 36%.
MIT is $42k per year which puts it out of reach of most lower class white students who do not get the same advantages that lower class minority students get:
Quote:
The enormous disadvantage incurred by lower-class whites in comparison to non-whites and wealthier whites is partially explained by Espenshade and Radford as a result of the fact that, except for the very wealthiest institutions like Harvard and Princeton, private colleges and universities are reluctant to admit students who cannot afford their high tuitions. And since they have a limited amount of money to give out for scholarship aid, they reserve this money to lure those who can be counted in their enrollment statistics as diversity-enhancing "racial minorities." Poor whites are apparently given little weight as enhancers of campus diversity, while poor non-whites count twice in the diversity tally, once as racial minorities and a second time as socio-economically deprived. Private institutions, Espenshade and Radford suggest, "intentionally save their scarce financial aid dollars for students who will help them look good on their numbers of minority students." Quoting a study by NYU researcher Mitchell Stevens, they write: "ultimate evaluative preference for members of disadvantaged groups was reserved for applicants who could be counted in the college's multicultural statistics. This caused some admissions officers no small amount of ethical dismay."
Yet Hispanics get counted as "people of color" even tho many of then are "white" going by DNA and skin color. But dark skin anglos DON'T get "AA" because they're still counted as anglo white. OTOH: Gypsies ARE counted as "anglo white" in the US tho they're usually of Asian heritage. Word is they're the same as Indians from India.
Colleges currently give little or no advantage in the admissions process to low-income students, compared with more affluent students of the same race, other research has found. A broad ruling against the University of Texas affirmative action program could cause colleges to take into account various socioeconomic measures, including income, neighborhood and family composition. Such a step would require an increase in these colleges’ financial aid spending but would help them enroll significant numbers of minority students.
Among high-achieving, low-income students, 6 percent were black, 8 percent Latino, 15 percent Asian-American and 69 percent white, the study found.
“If there are changes to how we define diversity,” said Greg W. Roberts, the dean of admission at the University of Virginia, referring to the court case, “then I expect schools will really work hard at identifying low-income students.”
If you're white and your family is well off, you're in luck. If you're a minority, you're in luck whether your family is poor or wealthy. If you're white and your family is poor...too bad, you're SOL.
Those terrorist groups did not just target blacks, many targeted all minorities. Asians also faced discrimination for hundreds of years in this country (see Yick Wo). Black people are not unique in the way they were treated.
Lets see what makes American Blacks different:
Slavery...... check
Loss of of identity.....check
Jim Crow Laws........check
Specific Discrimination actions directed towards blacks......check
Marginalization through media, law and politics.......check
Total miseducation of black history(still)........check
Denial of equal paying jobs (to this day)....check
Unequal treatment in education (inferior schools, still)......check
Assassination of every predominate black leader.........check
Judging from your response I will add the indignity of being compared to other ethnicitie's suffering who
voluntarily migrated to this country and have been called "model minorities," totally disregarding any and all contributions by those who were here before them(see marginalization).
I find it interesting considering that every other group rode in on the coat tails of black suffering and their leadership in Civil Rights Movement which benefited them all including white women.
.
Specific Discrimination actions directed towards blacks......check
Marginalization through media, law and politics.......check
Total miseducation of black history(still)........check
Denial of equal paying jobs (to this day)....check
Unequal treatment in education (inferior schools, still)......check
Assassination of every predominate black leader.........check
Judging from your response I will add the indignity of being compared to other ethnicitie's suffering who
voluntarily migrated to this country and have been called "model minorities," totally disregarding any and all contributions by those who were here before them(see marginalization).
I find it interesting considering that every other group rode in on the coat tails of black suffering and their leadership in Civil Rights Movement which benefited them all including white women.
.
Well, lets look at it honestly, shall we?
Dead beat fathers...check
Irresponsible breeders for mothers....check
Highest crime rate...check
Welfare system that rewards incompetence and irresponsibility....check
Black "leaders" that "lead" by racial divisiveness, rather than encouraging excellence....check
Embracing a culture of crime and violence.....check
AA doesn't address any of your points sometime. And you can't ride coat tails unless the person wearing the coat is going somewhere so I'm not sure I get that.
So these institutions accept the higher class whites who can afford tuition, and then use their scholarships/aid on lower class minorities because they count twice for diversity- once for race, and another time for class, whereas the lower class white student only counts once for class. If you are a white student from a lower-class family, you really get shat on by the whole process.
AA doesn't address any of your points sometime. And you can't ride coat tails unless the person wearing the coat is going somewhere so I'm not sure I get that.
AA addresses two things. One of them is to trying to equal the playing field.
You have to look at it like this, white america had an over 100 year head start as far as wealth and education is concerned, and as you know those whose parents are well educated tend to have children who are as well. With education usually comes some degree of wealth/power as well. Look at any of the wealthiest old familles in this country and you will see that they have generations of of educated people from prestigous universities that were off limits to blacks until this century. This is were your legacy scholarships and grants come from.
Secondly, it provides diversity which in my opinion provides exposure to others that normally some white and black students would never encounter in their lifetimes. This can foster an understanding and knowledge that may over the long run can stem the spread of racism.
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