| Topic Name: |
End Affirmative Action and Legacies |
| Message Name: |
Question 2 |
| Date Posted: |
04/02/2001 |
| In Reply To: |
I'll only address the affirmative action side of your argument, because quite frankly, I haven't seen much of the other.
I teach the LSAT prep course to minority students.
It's not a question of intelligence, it often a question of adequate schooling. These young men and women often come from disadvantaged backgrounds and tough schools. They don't get the same educational opportunities---or often the same quality of education that most middle class white kids do. They aren't exposed to the same breadth of vocabulary and often, they aren't taught the fundamentals of logic---even in college.
Yet, they are bright, impassioned, and eager to learn. These same students who struggle on the LSAT, seem to hit their stride when they actually get into school.
When Berkeley (Boalt Law) went from being an affirmative action school to a non-affirmative action school they ended up with 2 admitted law students of color. Is that plenty?
Even putting aside the LSAT gap, its human nature to choose people like one's self---its our comfort zone. Admissions personnel are no better than the rest of us, and they are primarily white--because traditionally whites were in the majority at law schools.
The law profession should reflect the general population. Why? I believe its especially important in the area of law, because the law profession so clearly impacts the day to day lives of every American. If there are disproportionately few Black and Latino lawyers and Judges, those populations feel they have no voice in the legal system---an area that can most dramatically impact their lives, liberty and security.
There will come a day, when persons of all ethinicity will have an equal chance at a quality education and affirmative action will no longer be necessary to ensure that there is diversity in our professional schools. With desegregation and busing still fresh in my memory, and the knowledge that many traditionally black and latino inner city elementary and secondary schools are underfunded and in serious disrepair, I can't see how that day has come yet.
A white girl in VA. |
| Message: |
Even if one were to say, yes some affirmative action is good, then the next question is HOW MUCH?
In other words, how much of a preference is appropriate? How many points on the LSAT do you give to black applicants?
The law schools won't release this information because the HUGE amoung of the preference is so shockingly large. In the early nineties, a student at the G-town law school admissions office released the LSAT disparity and it was a whoppingly huge one. One and a half standard deviations.
Knowing how big the differential is, whenever I see a black lawyer, I immediately presume he's less qualified.
|
|
