I don’t agree with everything in here, obviously, but the Corner does not fear diversity of opinion:
First, I liked and agreed with much of your commentary.
However- on your comment about Morehouse and blacks benefiting from sharing a room or otherwise getting to know a few Asians and white kids, I think the black experience is different from whites. I can not count the number of white people I know for whom I am there only black or their first black friend and that only because I worked hard to get into law school and then a major law firm- where they meet “one”. White people, many anyway, can live their lives without ever knowing any black or non-white in any meaningful way or learning anything about there experiences, culture or life. No black person can say the same about white people- in every part of our lives we are surround by and despite living in as segregated communities as whites- inundated with white culture- and yeah yeah I know blacks today are all over the pop culture scene and sports and else where, but that’s not the direct exposure blacks get day in and day out. Considering the enormous number of arrogant and ignorant statements I heard very insulated whites state about blacks and other minorities life in law school, I think whites do benefit from being exposed directly to non-whites.
I and my black friends did/do agree that the blacks those whites are likely to encounter thanks to affirmative action or diversity, are more likely to be diverse in skin only or mainly, in that the blacks are likely to be the kid of a black doctor or lawyer like the white person, and not a poor black kid- so opinion or background diversity isn’t going to be as strong, given that class matters more than race- as Jeff Goldblum said to Lawrence Fishburne in Deep Cover: “there is no black and white anymore only rich and poor and since we’re both rich- we’re on the same side”. Affirmative action is likely to benefit the middle class black kids who shouldn’t need it in the first place, as their parent make the money and they attend the same good high schools as the middle class white kids.
On your propanda about the meritocracy of the 50s and 60s ushered in by the SATs, prior to the enactment of anti-discrimination laws, the SAT and the old boy network determined which white guy got to go to college and got the great job, but it was still going to be a white guy. Was to be the “bright” white boy or the “rich and connected” white boy. The SAT gave the very bright but not rich white boy a shot- it added some merit to wealth and connections. Diversity and affirmative action, added women and minorities and now means the pool includes lots of bright white girls and rich white girls and a few bright and middle class/rich non-white boys and girls. The poor (of any color) still get nada. As the SATs helped a few bright white guys compete with middle class and rich white guys, diversity helps a few bright non-white people compete with the middle class and rich of all races. The poor (and stupid and average) are screwed.
There never was a meritocracy in the USA or any where, but fine, I agree kill affirmative action and diversity, keep the SATs, then what? The rich of any color can buy their success in school and life, the exceptionally bright will do ok, what about the mass of average and sub-average. With all this fighting over a few lost slots of the white guys, what are we going to do to fix the massive problem of the educationally challenged poor of any color?