Response to today’s conversation

Commenters on the AJC Get Schooled blog had a range of reactions to the news the U.S. Supreme Court would take up a Texas case on whether race can be considered in college admissions. Here is a sampling of comments:

Ameri: Affirmative action labels children at birth. Skin color overrides all the qualities an individual brings — talent, hard work, leadership, empathy. Admitting unqualified students into a highly selective college will not do these students any good. The mismatch is equivalent to throwing a non-swimmer into deep water and wishing him good luck to survive.

Milton: Too bad they did not give extra points to "white trash who grew up in a trailer." I would have received plenty of points, but no, I had to work my rear end off to make decent grades to get admitted to college

Star: I've encountered many, many deprived kids. They're deprived in different ways. Some run the streets because they're not supervised, mama being drunk or on drugs. Most have no access to reading material at home. Many have inherited low IQs. The worst deprivation is where the local school is of little help because many teachers have similar backgrounds. Even in the worst situations, there are a few kids who are capable of great things and, if helped early enough, will grow into useful citizens. Affirmative action in college admissions needs to start before puberty and needs to be based on ability and attitude, not race, sex or the condition of, or absence of, immigration paperwork. The country will need the talent in the future.

Bu2: I have no problem giving some advantage to a student with low socioeconomic status. I do have a problem giving someone favoritism simply because of the color of their skin.

Panther: College admissions are always going to be holistic. There is no black and white way to identify "the best student." I don't believe race should be issue; however, I certainly think socioeconomic class should be an issue. I live in an affluent area of Forsyth County. It's unbelievable all the advantages these children have. I have a friend whose son wrote his college admissions essay on his experience swimming with the whale sharks off the coast of Cabo. I know someone else who spent $4,000 on private SAT tutoring for her child. When one of our children struggle, we don't hesitate to spend $80 an hour for a tutor. Heck, one of my friends hired a math tutor for her son for three years because he had a grade of only 87 in math. When these children make mistakes and get into trouble, their parents buy their way out of it.