The News

Outsourcing Affirmative Action?

(African Students at Penn State)

When compared with Native-born Black students, African and Caribbean students are overrepresented at America’s top-tier universities, raising concerns about the implementation of Affirmative Action, ABCNews.com reported today:

“13 percent of of the nation’s college-age Black population comes from outside the country, and at the top universities, that number approaches 25 percent.”

”Affirmative action is no longer a compensation for past discriminations,” Shirley Wilcher, an Affirmative Action expert said. “Today it is divorced from overcoming disadvantage.”

Hmmm… This article from The Daily Princetonian gives a bit more detail about the study in question. (Thanks to Ben for the link). A highlight:

The final hypothesis, which is based on previous studies suggesting that whites find immigrant blacks more “likeable” than native blacks, is that admissions officers are subconsciously admitting applicants based on “sociable qualities” that they perceive immigrant blacks possess more than native blacks.

These are definitely essential reading.

Posted at 7:15 AM, Mar 09, 2007 in News | Permalink | View Comments