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Basically, there are two different explanations for why black students find it hard to get into college. (1) Racism. The white people in charge of college adm

by csense 9y ago

Basically, there are two different explanations for why black students find it hard to get into college. (1) Racism. The white people in charge of college admissions just don't like black people, and let too few of them into college. (2) Performance difference. Black students, on average, are less academically capable than white students. A person who truly believes in meritocracy would say that if the explanation is (1), then it's an institutional problem that needs an institutional solution which involves supporting or boosting black students in some way. If the explanation is (2), then it's a problem with the individual student; black students need to improve their average level of study skills, talent, maturity, preparation, hard work, and all the other things that go into academic success. The author's saying that he believes the evidence, in the form of grades by race, points toward explanation (2). If this is the case, and that evidence becomes public, meritocrats will turn against programs that help black students. Since they want to protect students from racism, but (by the definition of meritocracy) don't want to protect students from the consequences of their inability to perform academically, even if that means certain racial groups become underrepresented.

nothrabannosir 9y ago
That might actually be what Loury was getting at (I was honestly as surprised as OP at that line). However, there does seem to be a third, midway option, which the author even alludes to: black people have been socially and economically disadvantaged for centuries (to put it mildly), resulting in overrepresentation in lower socio economic groups. That, in turn, would lead to lower academic performance (regardless of race), because of less support and encouragement from the environment. In broad strokes: Option 3 is a combination of 1 (but societal, not just in academics), leading to 2 (but correlation, not causation). The idea of affirmative action then (assuming #3) being: giving black people more space in the academic race will eventually help break that chain. There are a lot of assumptions here, but I don’t see how this would be incongruous with either the author’s earlier statements or affirmative action as a whole. However I doubt this is actually true, because the author (an expert, unlike me) seems to know something I don’t.
AstralStorm 9y ago
There is also (3) different initial state. If for instance schools in areas where majority of black people live are lower quality. Food. Or perhaps the presence of crime. Culture of disdain for education might be a thing as well. These are institutional causes similar to (1) that are not racism but demand an institutional solution too.

by csense 9y ago

nothrabannosir 9y ago

That might actually be what Loury was getting at (I was honestly as surprised as OP at that line). However, there does seem to be a third, midway option, which the author even alludes to: black people have been socially and economically disadvantaged for centuries (to put it mildly), resulting in overrepresentation in lower socio economic groups. That, in turn, would lead to lower academic performance (regardless of race), because of less support and encouragement from the environment. In broad strokes: Option 3 is a combination of 1 (but societal, not just in academics), leading to 2 (but correlation, not causation). The idea of affirmative action then (assuming #3) being: giving black people more space in the academic race will eventually help break that chain. There are a lot of assumptions here, but I don’t see how this would be incongruous with either the author’s earlier statements or affirmative action as a whole. However I doubt this is actually true, because the author (an expert, unlike me) seems to know something I don’t.

AstralStorm 9y ago

There is also (3) different initial state. If for instance schools in areas where majority of black people live are lower quality. Food. Or perhaps the presence of crime. Culture of disdain for education might be a thing as well. These are institutional causes similar to (1) that are not racism but demand an institutional solution too.