American Civil Rights Institute Blog

‘Manhattan Project’ for Racial Achievement Gap

Thomas Espenshade, author of a study that showed students of Asian descent are discriminated against at elite colleges and universities, thinks he’s come up with a bold new plan to close the racial achievement gap.

Calling it a project “with the same scale, urgency, and sense of importance as the original Manhattan Project,” Espenshade proposes to monitor the lives of up to 50,000 children from birth to age eighteen to try to determine what causes the racial gap and how parents, schools, neighborhoods, and the government can work together to close it. (Source)

Good luck with that.

Espenshade’s research shows the extent of lowered standards for blacks in higher education. For instance, black students admitted to elite colleges and universities receive the equivalent of a 310 SAT-point boost. Talk about a thumb on the scale. Hispanics receive a 130-point boost. Standards for black applicants whose ancestors were American slaves are lowered more than those for blacks of multiracial background or who are first- or second-generation immigrants.

Regarding the mismatch theory — the idea that black students admitted under preferences are ill-matched to colleges and universities they attend — Espenshade says blacks admitted under preferences are more likely to graduate, go to grad school, and have higher lifetime incomes, but they tend to graduate at the low end of the class as selectivity rises.

“On balance, we conclude that a higher graduation rate and the other advantages of attending a more selective institution more than outweigh the potential disadvantages of lower class rank at graduation.”

I wonder if blacks graduating at the bottom of their classes would agree. Let’s say most would agree. Fine, but we must call the thing by its name. It isn’t “affirmative action”; it’s lowering the bar. If black Americans don’t have a problem with that, okay. But don’t use a euphemism and pretend it’s something else.

Finally, Espenshade announces what most already know: racial preferences exist because of the achievement gap between the races. But for lowered standards, elite schools (and probably non-elites, too) would see fewer blacks on campus.

“What we see at selective colleges and universities is just the tip of the iceberg,” he writes. “It is symptomatic of a much broader societal phenomenon. Racial gaps in academic skills and knowledge begin to develop soon after birth. They are reflected initially in children’s inventories of vocabulary words and later in tests of math and reading. By the time of kindergarten entry, black children lag about one year behind whites. Gaps continue to grow throughout the elementary and secondary school years in a pattern of cumulative advantage and disadvantage.”

Espenshade notes the far-reaching implications of the gap, as it manifests itself in high school and extends to the workforce. The “Manhattan Project” solution to the problem isn’t nearly as bold or as innovative as he believes it is. It’s just another grandiose and expensive-sounding proposal that tip-toes around a factor that exacerbates disparities between the races: illegitimacy. Or more precisely, fatherlessness.

I concur with Roger Clegg’s comment on the article (emphases added):

“Earlier this year, the National Center for Health Statistics came out with its latest numbers on illegitimacy (final data for 2006). By population subgroup, the percentage of children born out of wedlock is 70.7 percent for non-Hispanic blacks, 64.6 percent for American Indians/Alaska Natives, 49.9 percent for Hispanics, 26.6 percent for non-Hispanic whites, and 16.5 percent for Asians/Pacific Islanders. Notice any connection between those numbers and how academically competitive the members of the group are likely to be come college admissions time?

“The fact is that kids who grow up in two-parent homes are much more likely to get the support and help they need to perform well academically. Conversely, illegitimacy correlates with just about any social problem you can name (poverty, crime, dropping out of school, substance abuse, etc.), and it — not discrimination — is the principal cause of racial disparities in all these areas. See my National Review Online column here.

“And you will not be surprised to hear that I do not believe this problem will be solved by giving racial preferences in college admissions to middle- and upper-class African Americans.

“This is a cultural and moral problem, and I don’t have a proposed silver bullet to solve it. I would say only that, while there may be a limited role for government, most of the heavy lifting will probably have to be done by the little platoons.

“(BTW, please don’t bother arguing that illegitimacy is caused by racism. The percentage of out-of-wedlock births for African Americans has actually gotten much, much higher as discrimination has diminished.)”

John Rosenberg at Discriminations has more.

Friday, November 13th, 2009, by La Shawn Barber and is filed under "Achievement Gap ". Both comments and pings are currently closed.