In 2018 The Atlantic explained this phenomenon, what the utility is, and correctly posited that it would not likely go away. TLDR; Status games and intra-elite

In 2018 The Atlantic explained this phenomenon, what the utility is, and correctly posited that it would not likely go away. TLDR; Status games and intra-elite jockeying among the overproduced elite. "Think about what it takes to claw your way into America’s elite strata. Unless you were born into the upper-middle class, your surest route is to pursue an elite education. To do that, it pays to be exquisitely sensitive to the beliefs and prejudices of the people who hold the power to grant you access to the social and cultural capital you badly want. By setting the standards for what counts as praiseworthy, elite universities have a powerful effect on youthful go-getters." "As the senior assistant director of admissions at Yale recently observed, “for those students who come to Yale, we expect them to be versed in issues of social justice. We encourage them to be vocal when they see an opportunity for change in our institution and in the world.” Picture yourself as an eager high schooler reading these words, and then jotting down notes. You absorb, assuming you hadn’t already, what it takes to make your way in contemporary elite America. And as you grow older, you lean into the rhetorical gambits that served you so well in the past. You might even build a worldview out of them." https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/08/the-utility-of-white-bashing/566846/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/08/the-utilit...