Aren't you the one who always says businesses should be able to discriminate against whomever they want?

"It is extraordinary that the vast majority of high school graduates in this state are minorities..." says attorney Shanta Driver.

Is that true? So if minorities graduate at a lower rate than whites, how can they make up a majority of high school graduates if they are fewer in number than whites?

I thought "minority" meant a smaller socially defined group; e.g. ethnic, racial, religious, sexual. But now I'm suspecting it actually means anything but heterosexual white male, regardless of relative numbers and political influence.

Aren't you the one who always says businesses should be able to discriminate against whomever they want? - NicoleK

There are two things wrong with your statement:

First, state universities are not private businesses. They are public institutions, and as such, should not discriminate against anyone based on definable qualities like race, religion, or sexuality, even if it is, "reverse discrimination," like affirmative action is. Obviously, universities and colleges need to have discretion of some kind, and left to their own devices, they usually prefer students that are more intelligent, and have proven with their high school records that they can keep up with the coursework of college.

Second, Amy's point, if I understand it, is that affirmative action is discriminatory. But it's government sanctioned discrimination, not discrimination by a private business or person.

I agree with Amy, private businesses should be able to discriminate against whomever they wish. Government, however, should not discriminate, not even against the supposedly evil middle class white male.

From the article:
"We want to see more of our people on campus," Flores said. "With diversity, more people would be tolerant and understanding of different ethnicities, different cultures."
This quote embodies all that is wrong with affirmative action. It gives college admittance an us vs. them feeling. It also seems to confuse public racial diversity with private tolerance and lack of racism. Just because more Hispanic or Black students are in your classes, doesn't mean that the KKK member will suddenly renounce his beliefs.

UC Berkeley has tried to bolster diversity by expanding outreach to high schools in poor neighborhoods and considering applicants' achievements in light of the academic opportunities available to them.
California's highest-achieving minority students are heavily recruited by top private colleges that practice affirmative action and offer scholarships to minorities, administrators say.
So, because schools in other states have to admit a certain number of Black or Hispanic students, there are less able to attend schools in California. This isn't a problem with UC schools, it is a problem with those other schools.

Amy,
I'm glad I understood correctly. I was little worried about speaking for you.

Jazzhands: I do think it is reasonable to argue that, over time, the children of the local KKK will renounce their parent's beliefs if exposed to a more diverse set of classmates. My college girlfriend was a first generation child of Indian immigrants. They made their own yogurt, in the cupboard not the fridge. Totally grossed me out. I remember being really offended by some racist shit my grandmother said about Indians. It was personal now, she's insulting my friend. Attitudes change over generations.

I think affirmative action is counterproductive to that goal though. For one thing, it's a short cut that refuses to acknowledge that These Things Change Over Generations. For another, flattening outcomes reduces individual parent's incentive to work hard to make life better for the next generation of their family. And isn't that how UCLA came to be dominated by these now derided Asians?

Occupy tie-in: Why save for college if it won't give my kid a leg up?

"They made their own yogurt, in the cupboard not the fridge"

How do you make yogurt in the fridge? You got to make it first and then put it in the fridge. You can't just put milk in the fridge and turn it into yogurt even before it becomes yogurt.

From someone who went to a school (UCLA) who had affirmative action, it was extremely detrimental. I got in, at least I believe I did, on merit. 4.2 GPA, 1400+ SAT score, and wildly "rounded" being active in about 10 clubs in high school. Having affirmative action, there was an assumption that I was only in because the school "let" me in and that I wasn't really qualified to get there and I pushed out another qualified "white" student. I was told as much on several occasions.

Dammit, I worked hard to get into college and anyone who thinks otherwise or causes others to think otherwise is unhelpful, counterproductive, and detrimental. If you want to talk about killing someone's self esteem, let them get in on merits, then demean them by telling them that they only got in because of some racial bias.