I've never been a huge fan of affirmative action. True, I never strongly objected to a racial preference for African-Americans. At least in that case one could justify the policy as a remedy for past discrimination. My problems begin mainly when it extends well beyond African-Americans to include other minorities and--especially--women. Hispanics, for example, were never enslaved or put-upon any more than any other ethnic group--e.g., the Irish. Women are completely undeserving of the benefit.
On net, I think affirmative action is harmful at non-elite institutions like mine. The resulting feminization of college life diminishes the institution. (Note that at elite institutions the gender balance is rigorously kept at 50/50.) And partly because of affirmative action, identity politics now dominates campus life to a destructive degree.
So now an organization called Students for Fair Admissions is suing Harvard University for discriminating against Asian-Americans. And discrimination it certainly is. Based on test scores only, Asians should make up 43% of Harvard's freshman class, yet they're only granted 19% of the spots. By contrast, African-Americans get 10%, vs. only 1% in a test-only world.
Looks damning, doesn't it? It is often compared to the similar discrimination against Jews in the 1920s and 1930s, in that case giving a strong preference to gentile white students. Yet I don't think Harvard was antisemitic back in the 1930s, and I don't think they're anti-Asian today. In both cases I believe they acted for perfectly valid, honest reasons.
Harvard--and all other elite institutions--strives for a meritocracy. As The Hill points out,
Imagine a world where every student has their SAT score emblazoned on their forehead. Imagine one where a person’s worth is determined by their ACT score.Indeed, merit based solely on test scores would be a very desiccated, narrow standard. No real college or university will want to use such a system (Cal Tech perhaps being an exception). Unsurprisingly, they come up with a lot of other relevant criteria--legacy students, athletics, special circumstances, and, sotto voce, ethnicity. Which leads to a conversation--just what is merit, anyway? And how is it supposed to be judged?
I can tell you how Harvard judges merit: by estimating how a student will enhance Harvard's brand. At very least Harvard depends on alumni contributions; I've read that Asian alums are relatively chintzy (don't know if that's true). Yankee blue bloods from New England are a safer bet.
And more, the College wants to maximize its influence on the larger culture--Asians, only 6% of the population, will never contribute 43% of the influence, no matter what the test scores say. Blacks, meanwhile, despite being only 12% of the population, have a disproportionate effect on our political, musical and cultural life.
That last paragraph suggests that Harvard wants a student body that roughly mirrors the nation--that's not affirmative-action-speak, but instead brass-tacks reality for a school that wants to lead American society. Of course they're inconsistent: they ignore the Scots-Irish, have relatively little use for Catholics, and frankly, disproportionately preference Asians. But over all, the goals of Harvard and affirmative action are roughly aligned.
I have no problem with Harvard's admissions policy. Indeed, I agree with the headline in The Hill:
Every college — even Harvard — has a right to build its own community.This, of course, is simply an assertion of the First Amendment right to free association.
And that brings us to Barry Goldwater justifying his vote against the 1964 Civil Rights bill.
I wish to make myself perfectly clear. The two portions of this bill to which I have constantly and consistently voiced objections, and which are of such overriding significance that they are determinative of my vote on the entire measure, are those which would embark the Federal Government on a regulatory course of action in the area of so-called "public accommodations" and in the area of employment--to be precise, Titles II and VII of the bill. I find no constitutional basis for the exercise of Federal regulatory authority in either of these areas.Mr. Goldwater was among very few Republicans to vote against the measure, and of course he was indelibly tarred as a racist because of that, despite making himself "perfectly clear." And let's face it--the times were against him. Jim Crow was such an egregious offense against the Constitution that no fair-minded American could oppose either fair accommodations or fair employment provisions.
And yet, Mr. Goldwater turns out to be right. Today institutions--and not just Harvard--are denied freedom of association, and are forced into all kinds of legal contortions to accomplish their perfectly reasonable (and non-racist) goals. The irony is that Harvard is trying to benefit--for its own reasons, and not out of charity--the very people whom the civil rights movement sought to protect.
Ideally, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 will be repealed (at least the offending sections) and First Amendment Rights will be restored. Fat chance.
There are plenty of other government agencies, that like the Civil Rights Act were a good idea at the time, have long since outlived their usefulness. A good example is the USDA inspection regime. At the turn of the last Century, meat sold in stores was of abysmal quality. Refrigeration was rare and expensive, so much of it was rotten. Then it was often adulterated with chalk--adding to the weight without adding to the nutrition. Finally, the meat processing plants were filthy, as documented by Upton Sinclair's novel, The Jungle.
No wonder government regulators stepped in.
But today they should step out again--the whole inspection regime is ridiculous. Refrigeration is today both cheap and ubiquitous--no consumer will buy meat improperly kept. Beyond which social media keeps an hourly watch on any grocery or restaurant selling meat--the slightest offense, or even rumor of an offense, will bring instant retribution. The annual USDA inspection adds nothing to consumer safety while contributing significantly to costly bureaucracy.
I feel the same about municipal restaurant inspectors. Again, social media does a much better job at enforcing restaurant cleanliness than any semi-annual inspection regime. All the latter does is prevent poor people from selling street food, and provide many opportunities for corrupt income to the bureaucrats involved. I suggest getting rid of the entire enterprise.
Harvard's goals can in no way be considered racist--their very self-interest prevents that. There are perhaps 100,000 students in the USA in a given year who can benefit from a Harvard education. These can be identified by test scores by rendering applicants below a certain minimum ineligible. Beyond that minimum, I doubt a specific test score makes much difference. Given that Harvard only admits 2,000 students, surely they can find enough qualified members from any ethnic minority they want. Unlike the implicit premise of the Students for Fair Admissions, Harvard isn't accepting any unqualified students.
So I generally oppose Affirmative Action. I even oppose the Civil Rights Act of 1964! But I do support Harvard's legitimate claim to freedom of association, and believe they should be allowed to admit whomever they want for whatever reason they want. I hope the courts reject the claims of Students for Fair Admissions.
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