There has been much discussion recently about the Supreme Court decision to bar discrimination in college admissions based on the color of one’s skin. Some of the far left have said it is the end of minorities (think black and brown) being admitted to the college of their choice.
How racist is that idea? Blacks and Hispanics cannot compete with whites and Asians without government help according to these people.
Dr. Tom Woods has done a piece on this specific to admissions to law school.
There’s been a lot of discussion of affirmative action since the recent Supreme Court decision on the subject.
I was struck by these recent remarks in a public forum by law professor David Bernstein:
The American Bar Association is insistent that law schools meet an undefined standard of diversity. I won’t tell you exactly what it is, but if they don’t like how many, especially African American students, [your school admits], they will threaten your accreditation, which they in fact did to my law school about 20 years ago, which is why I got interested in the question….
If you’re at a law school where your median LSAT [Law School Admission Test] is, let’s say 160, the kids who get 162 or 163, they’re passing at 98%. Maybe the 156 and 157 are passing at 94%. It’s still great. But then there’s some inflection point, let’s say 153, where if you get below that, 80% of the students are failing the bar. Everyone knows this.
And the ABA’s reaction to this, if you tell them if we meet your goals, the only way to do that is to take in the under 153, they’re all going to fail the bar, the ABA says we don’t care and do it anyway.
This is ridiculous. Allowing people in who are destined to fail based on long standing metrics is cruel. This is a fraud being perpetrated on the public.
I was on a panel in front of the US Civil Rights Commission. At the end of the panel discussion, the commissioners asked if there’s anything else I would like to add. I said, I don’t want to add anything, but my colleague here is from the ABA. Ask him this question: does the ABA, when they’re measuring diversity outcomes, only measure inputs or do they care and check how well the students do once they’re in? How many actually graduate law school and how many pass the bar? And he acknowledged very explicitly, we don’t care about anything but admissions.
Now I insist that the main problem with affirmative action is that it is an injustice against innocent, qualified people.
But it is also worth noting what Professor Bernstein observes above. The ABA insists on “diversity,” or it will threaten your school’s accreditation. But when you explain that in order to meet that goal you will be accepting people who are without a doubt going to fail the bar exam, they do not care.
That is seriously screwed up.
And here’s the punchline at the end of all stories like this: nobody knows about it. Maybe some people suspect it. But in general things like this are kept away from the public. Instead, what the public does learn is a series of platitudes and propaganda meant to confuse and disorient them.
If you want the truth in this society, you won’t get it by osmosis. You have to seek it out.
Be skeptical of all government decrees. Demand verification with facts of all statements supporting specific DEI goals. Do not allow the elite to get away with anything less just because of their status.