Affirmative-Action Update: Where Are All the Black Students?

DiversityInc.com ^ | July 24, 2006 | Compiled by the DiversityInc staff

[flowerplough]

Not at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Of nearly 10,000 black students who graduated from Los Angeles County high schools this past June, just 1 percent will attend UCLA, according to NPR's Morning Edition.

Why? For many, the culprit is Proposition 209, the 1996 anti-affirmative-action bill backed by former UC Regent Ward Connerly, which made it illegal to use race-based preferences in admissions, employment and contracting throughout the state. When Connerly's term ended in January 2005, his message was clear: Don't bring back affirmative action, according to Black Issues in Higher Education.

UC may not be able to reinstate affirmative action, but the devastating decline in black enrollment has spawned discussion about how to revive the university's diversity within the boundaries of the law.

While UC has admitted more students of color since an initial drop after Connerly's Proposition 209, the disparities are concerning. This year, black enrollment at UCLA will be the lowest in more than three decades—a 57 percent decline since 1996. Last year, Latinos comprised 17 percent of UC admissions, marking only a minor gain since 1997, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

[flowerplough]

"For many, the culprit is Proposition 209, the 1996 anti-affirmative-action bill backed by former UC Regent Ward Connerly, which made it illegal to use race-based preferences in admissions..."

Blacks need preferences???

I ask again, isn't Affirmative Action primarily free things for melanin and estrogen?

[Fenris6]

Where's the Affirmative Action to balance the decrease of males attending college? /s :P

[spinestein]

When the government categorizes people based on an arbitrary standard called "race" and then hands out money and opportunities based on that then how can it possibly be anything but RACISM?

[gaijin]

They keepin' it REAL! Don't want no suckah-jive EDJEECATION..!

[Tzimisce]

"UC may not be able to reinstate affirmative action, but the devastating decline in black enrollment has spawned discussion about how to revive the university's diversity within the boundaries of the law."

Hm....that is a puzzler. How do we legally discriminate against white people without making racial head counts?

[Menehune56]

UC may not be able to reinstate affirmative action, but the devastating decline in black enrollment has spawned discussion about how to revive the university's diversity within the boundaries of the law.

In what way is it this decline devastating? UCLA still has plenty of diversity, just not the exact type the organization publishing this tripe wants to see.

[avacado]

"For many, the culprit is Proposition 209, the 1996 anti-affirmative-action bill "

Noooooooo... the culprit is hard work, good grades, and personal responsibility. We all have an equal chance.

[litehaus]

The CREAM will rise to the top! The schoolyard bully/jive talker will be asking the geek for a job later in life.......

---

And never understand why he doesn't get the job.

[sasafras]

"Why? For many, the culprit is Proposition 209, the 1996 anti-affirmative-action bill backed by former UC Regent Ward Connerly, which made it illegal to use race-based preferences in admissions,"


Racism by any other name is still racism. Libs look at the world with racist colored glasses. Hate is all they stand for.

[siddude]

It's called competition. You either sink or swim.

[brain bleeds red]

For many, the culprit is Proposition 209...

This is the way liberals force their views on people. They state their misguided perspective, and then pretend many people believe it...tsk tsk...cmon liberals you can do better than that...

[SBprone]

UCLA is a tough ticket for prospective students of any color. And the UC system doesn't give a crap about letting students into a school near their family home. 100 black freshman from the LA area seems like a lot to me.

This is a good time to be a black high school senior applying for admission to the elite schools, including UCLA. Having "URM" status in addition to grades, test scores and extra-curriculars will take a kid a lot farther than without URM status. Fact is, elite schools fight like hell to get qualified black freshman.

[PeteB570]

I guess they are finally coming out and admitting that blacks can't get in on their own merit and accomplishments.

Hmmm, I think a person can achieve most anything they want if they apply themselves and work hard.

I wonder who has the racist views?

[Bigh4u2]

Did this person ever think that maybe the blacks are attending OTHER colleges and not UCLA because it they think it SUCKS!

[sweetliberty]

"isn't Affirmative Action primarily free things for melanin and estrogen?"

I always thought it was conferring the privileges of education and competence on individuals who are neither educated nor competent.

[Continental Soldier]

Maybe if we dumb down standards far enough, affirmative action won't be necessary at any school in the country.

[xenophiles]

Of nearly 10,000 black students who graduated from Los Angeles County high schools this past June, just 1 percent will attend UCLA [...] Why? For many, the culprit is Proposition 209, the 1996 anti-affirmative-action bill...

And... where are the numbers for 1995 and 1997? That's where the decline will be apparent, if this is the real cause. The fact that these numbers are not mentioned at all is enough to convince me that the author either a) didn't understand this simple logic, b) knew that these facts would not support the desired conclusion, or c) simply didn't care about accuracy.

And if we want a second helping of well-cooked statistics:

While UC has admitted more students of color since an initial drop after Connerly's Proposition 209, the disparities are concerning. This year, black enrollment at UCLA will be the lowest in more than three decades—a 57 percent decline since 1996. Last year, Latinos comprised 17 percent of UC admissions, marking only a minor gain since 1997...

Translation: 1) black enrollment has declined, but we don't know whether it's significant (we don't know the typical variance over ten years), 2) latin enrollment has risen (but again, we don't know whether it's significant), 3) "students of color" enrollment has fluctuated (meaningless).

[Warrior Nurse]

Not at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Of nearly 10,000 black students who graduated from Los Angeles County high schools this past June, just 1 percent will attend UCLA, according to NPR's Morning Edition. Why? For many, the culprit is Proposition 209, the 1996 anti-affirmative-action bill backed by former UC Regent Ward Connerly, which made it illegal to use race-based preferences in admissions, employment and contracting throughout the state. When Connerly's term ended in January 2005, his message was clear: Don't bring back affirmative action, according to Black Issues in Higher Education. UC may not be able to reinstate affirmative action, but the devastating decline in black enrollment has spawned discussion about how to revive the university's diversity within the boundaries of the law. While UC has admitted more students of color since an initial drop after Connerly's Proposition 209, the disparities are concerning. This year, black enrollment at UCLA will be the lowest in more than three decades—a 57 percent decline since 1996. Last year, Latinos comprised 17 percent of UC admissions, marking only a minor gain since 1997, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The culprit is simple they are not qualified to get into UCLA PERIOD. the 1% that are qualified get admitted. Wow imagine that what a concept and easily identifiable problem. I wonder if the 1% come from private or home schools. How come they don't tell us how many go to UC Davis or Santa Barbara or Chino or even Junior Colleges to get their grades up. Now looking at UCLA's football team you wouldn't think that 1% of the freshmen are black. That is another argument though.

[GSlob]

"The CREAM will rise to the top!"
Cream is not the only thing that floats to the top. Check any septic tank for an object illustration.

[GSlob]

"I think a person can achieve most anything they want [within one's ability] if they apply themselves and work hard."
I corrected it. Now it sounds more true. For example, even if you started playing chess at age 3, and have done nothing else ever since, would you be able to win a match against Kasparov?

[randog]

They keepin' it REAL! Don't want no suckah-jive EDJEECATION..!

Fo' shizzle, yo!

[Lizavetta]

I would love to see a long term study on where all the affirmative action students wound up.......how many graduated, how many transferred to other colleges, what they're doing for a living now, how many dropped out, etc.

I refuse to believe that in today's society that any black who was willing to work hard and persevere will not get ahead and succeed like anybody else.

[SeafoodGumbo]

In case some of ya'll have never seen the blog Discriminations, it's the best one out there on racial quotas and preferences.

[PeteB570]

Maybe, maybe not.

Some abilities can be sharpened if they are there to begin with. If there is no ability then there will be little gain.

Since I didn't apply myself in that direction I'll never know one way or the other.

I would think that putting work and effort into getting into college would have better results than trying to play world class chess. After all, most college students have a public school background. :-)

[jjw]

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

[TheCipher]

UC may not be able to reinstate affirmative action, but the devastating decline in black enrollment has spawned discussion about how to revive the university's diversity within the boundaries of the law

For UCLA: DIVERSITY = BLACK

I guess Asians and other minorites don't count.

[shalom aleichem]

I recall when this Ward Conery deal came up, Rush would have Dr. Walter Williams on as his replacement host who would in turn have Thomas Sowell on, and they (both highly educated Blacks) had very frank discussions. Their main point of agreement was don't "force" Blacks to the elite schools like UCLA or Berkeley but allow them to attend UC-Irvine or Riverside, places more on their academic level, and they will be successful. To toss them into a pool of much higher equipped and achieving students is really not fair or productive. They end up at the bottom of the class and become discouraged real fast. Where they could be a graduate of a mainline university, they become a drop-out and failure at an elite institution.

[combat_boots]

"I guess Asians and other minorites don't count."

True. Furthermore, what DOES a UCLA-or any other university for that matter-degree mean when standards sink disproportionately as the 'diversity' rises?

[combat_boots]

"males attending college? /s :P"

Young men who aren't gay still go to college for degrees other than medicine, engineering, law or business?

[An American in Turkiye]

I'm still waiting for the NBA to start affirmative-action. There is a strikingly few amount of white players.

Oh wait. They actually recruit the people most qualified. Hmmmmm..... Makes sense to me. When will colleges follow suit?

[radiohead]

I don't think the low numbers for black students has to do with them not wanting an education. My experience as a black female academic in a state w/no affirmative action for public universities has exposed me to many black students who will not apply to schools where there is no affirmative action. They equate it with racism and assume that they won't be welcome.

I have tried to get these students to understand that if they have the grades (and most do), they can compete with anyone. But, they can't get past the implied racism. In Washington state, there are still financial aid programs for minorities, so they can't say that no AA means no financial aid.

Personally, I'd rather compete and show myself that I can get in anywhere, even if, for some bizarre reason, I thought that no AA means the Klan is running the campus. But many students take what I consider to be the easy way out and don't apply. I think the low numbers of admitted black students is not because they can't compete with white students, but because fewer of them apply; the pool is smaller.

[JustaDumbBlonde]

Thank you for that insight -- very interesting. Do you think that we can overcome the mistaken impression that no affirmative action equals racism? Treating everyone the same, with no special considerations for race, would indicate 'no' racism to me.

[Myrddin]

The UC system reserved 5% of the entrance slots for affirmative action before prop 209 made it illegal. A full 87% of the people admitted under affirmative action dropped out the first year. Less that 2% ever made it to graduation day. The 5% carved out to accomodate affirmative action caused many highly qualified candidates of the wrong color to be rejected. It was a terrible failure as a program. If you can meet the academic standards to get into the school, color will not be an impediment to your admission. If you don't meet the standards, your fellow students will shred you academically. The affirmative action preference stops at the admissions office. The students and professors will not cut you any slack.

[gaijin]

YOU ROCK!

[radiohead]

YOU ROCK!

Thank you. I'm here all week.

[DeweyCA]

You may recall that Prop 209 was started as a backlash by s couple conservative Bay-area profs because the Dem-controlled CA Assembly had passed a bill (vetoed by Wilson) requiring AA quotas to extend to grading and graduation.

[radiohead]

Do you think that we can overcome the mistaken impression that no affirmative action equals racism?

I don't know. I guess it depends on people's backgrounds and mindsets. I think it is very difficult to change the mind of a person who is still on the Dim plantation. For most of them, racism is in everybody, every institution, every process. For them, you can't escape it. It's like being a damn feminist.

[Myrddin]

I have tried to get these students to understand that if they have the grades (and most do), they can compete with anyone. But, they can't get past the implied assumed racism.

[radiohead]

Yes. You are correct.

[GSlob]

"Maybe, maybe not"
Probably not. There was a guy - Mikhail Botvinnik, former world chess champion [and a professor of electical engineering at an elite engineering school in civilian life]. He used to run a "postgraduate" chess school for prodigies - those who did start playing around age 3 and got to international master level by early teens. Many tried to start early, not many got to that level. Kasparov is his best pupil, so you could imagine the kind of selection he went through.

[kittymyrib]

What is the percentage of Asian students? Some how they missed that ethnic group. It's tough having to admit that one group is obviously superior to the rest.

[Stegall Tx]

Do you know where I could find stats on the number of black students who have GRADUATED from college (especially UCLA) within five or six years of high school graduation? I've looked around, but can't find anything.

Isn't that the basis for Thomas Sowell's denunciation of Affirmative Action? I.e., since it places good students in excellent schools, they are outclassed by their peers and consequently drop out at a disproportionate rate.

If the percentage of black students graduating UCLA rises while the number of black students decreases, wouldn't this support Dr. Sowell's premise?

[Myrddin]

You may recall that Prop 209 was started as a backlash by s couple conservative Bay-area profs because the Dem-controlled CA Assembly had passed a bill (vetoed by Wilson) requiring AA quotas to extend to grading and graduation.

As if that was ever going to fly in the classroom. I've seen the stats on exams in my senior sequence biochem classes at UCSD. The raw score spread across 400 students was 87 to 93 points. A couple people scored 98. Ten "non-contigous minor" students scored in the high 60's. If you know what you are doing, you're in the tight pack from 87 to 93. No affirmative action can make up for being 30 points down. You can bet the students angling for med school aren't going to purposely screw up a test to make non-performers look better either.

[Myrddin]

BTW, I agree with gaijin. You do rock. Keep up the good work. Encourage the top performers to go for the gold.

[Political Junkie Too]

Of nearly 10,000 black students who graduated from Los Angeles County high schools this past June, just 1 percent will attend UCLA... This year, black enrollment at UCLA will be the lowest in more than three decades—a 57 percent decline since 1996.

Is the proper statistic for this article enrollment or applications? Do we know what the black application rate was this year vs. the acceptance rate vs. the actual enrollment rate?

-PJ

[radiohead]

Do we know what the black application rate was this year vs. the acceptance rate vs. the actual enrollment rate?

Why find that out? Might it show that, for whatever reason, fewer blacks applied and therefore, fewer blacks were accepted? But that wouldn't support the libs need to show how blacks are always the victim, huh?

[Political Junkie Too]

I'm afraid that it will show that the high school graduates weren't qualified to apply, i.e., that they shouldn't have graduated high school in the first place. Also, I don't think this would be limited to blacks.

-PJ

[jude24]

Where's the Affirmative Action to balance the decrease of males attending college?

There's not been a decrease in male enrollment; male enrollment has only grown slower than female.