I tend to agree with much of what you've posted in this comment section, but I want to point out that economic incentives are not what is truly at the heart of

I tend to agree with much of what you've posted in this comment section, but I want to point out that economic incentives are not what is truly at the heart of the moral underpinnings of affirmative action. If that was the point, then wouldn't cash or capital transfers be better? Instead, affirmative action, in its least cynical ideal, must be about the social value of higher education, which precludes consideration of income in lieu of race. Unless, of course, everything is ultimately about money. That's the last topic affirmative action naysayers want to breach, though, if they know what's good for them.