Writing in the Dallas Morning News today, Joanna Cattanach says she’s in favor of affirmative action in college

admissions, based on her own experience. She writes that “color in the

classroom makes colleges [sic] a better place. Then she describes herself as

an “albino Mexican” with skin so light that people can’t tell she’s of

Hispanic origin. She says she was adopted by an Anglo couple, which means

she was raised in an Anglo cultural environment, with an Anglo name. She

admits that she became Hispanic for purposes of college admission because

her SAT scores were “less than stellar” — her newfound Latina-ness making

it easier to get into college with those scores. Now that she’s graduated,

she’s “glad I chose not to hide my minority status and claimed it along with

my culture and heritage… .” So I have to ask: in what meaningful sense is

Miss Cattanach Hispanic? She doesn’t look Hispanic, by her own admission, or

have a Hispanic last name, both of which could conceivably have set her up

for discrimination. Furthermore, she grew up in an Anglo home. It sounds to

me like she only became a born-again Hispanic when she saw she could use it

to her advantage. She had all the presumptive privileges of an Anglo

upbringing, but when it came time to get into school, she worked the system

to eke out, potentially, ethnically Anglo kids who may have been more

qualified on merit. Can somebody please explain to me why this is moral, or

something to be proud of?