Court shouldn't legislate 'negative action'

The University of Texas at Austin is the venue for the latest challenge to affirmative action.

University policy provides race-based enrollment guidelines to help historically disadvantaged groups gain admission and the benefits of college education.

A white student, Abigail Fisher, who was not admitted to the school, is suing to have the policy overturned.

The University of Texas has a policy of admitting students in the top 10 percent of their high-school graduating classes. Fisher did not meet this standard.

Additionally, she attended another university, so she cannot claim to have suffered major hardship by not being admitted to the University of Texas.

Nevertheless, by agreeing to hear the case, the Supreme Court is signaling potential willingness to overturn the affirmative action policy.

Whatever the particular merits of the University of Texas case, affirmative action still has an important role to play in higher education.

Despite the passing of years since the civil rights era, there are still enormous structural inequalities facing non-dominant racial and ethnic groups.

African-Americans face disproportionate social and economic barriers when attempting to complete a college education.

Some of these barriers stem from poverty and low-quality primary school education, which leave African-American students at a disadvantage relative to white students.

This disparity has long-term effects on career opportunities and perpetuates multi-generational academic underachievement among some African-Americans. 

There are legitimate criticisms of affirmative action as the system is currently administered.

In certain respects, the scope and selection method of affirmative action programs should be revised. Not all people of color require the support that affirmative action provides, and not all whites are part of the privileged upper class.

Politicians and school administrators should consider expanding the criteria of affirmative action to address class and race inequalities in our society.

Affirmative action at least recognizes that this problem exists and seeks to alleviate racial disparity.

The system is not perfect, but removing affirmative action while large racial inequalities remain would be a step in the wrong direction.

Critics who allege that African-Americans are now being given special treatment should remember the legacy admissions policy of many schools.

Selective institutions regularly give preference to the children of alumni, which in practice means students from wealthy white families.

The truth is that all kinds of special privileges exist in American society, and for generations unequal advantages have been given almost exclusively to whites.

Affirmative action has historically been, and still is today, a limited but worthwhile attempt to reverse the chronic effects of discrimination.