As Americans, we start out with some clear advantages and disadvantages. Our advantage is that we are the world's most diverse student body and workforce. But, at the same time, we must contend with the negative baggage of our historical bigotry and the tension that arises from our current racial and ethnic inequalities. Tomorrow's workers come from today's colleges, and the best way to ensure diversity in the workplace is to increase diversity on the campus. But the current diversity on U.S. campuses falls short of the diversity we need in our workplaces.
Minorities still are underrepresented in higher education.
By that measure, there are currently 200,000 African Americans and 430,000 Hispanics missing on today's college campuses. As time passes, the opportunity gap in minority education is likely to widen because our educational policies will not provide sufficient support. Decades, even generations, of equal opportunity in elementary and secondary education will be required to produce equal educational outcomes in postsecondary education. In the meantime, only affirmative action can ensure that those occupying the most elite positions in our society mirror the racial and cultural composition of the United States. But affirmative action policies for the most selective institutions will not be enough.