He cites studies in support of affirmative action. As a journeyman lawyer, who on a good day sits at the feet of the likes of Derek Bok, William Bowen, and Ronald Dworkin, I perhaps have no business addressing here the question of why affirmative action in admissions is sound policy. These works go far toward remedying the long-felt need for stronger scholarship in this touchy field. Until these and a handful of other carefully reasoned publications came forward, few issues under broad public discussion were characterized by a less illuminating ratio of heat to light than this one. Strident polemic drowned out more thoughtful voices.
Several reasons seem plain.
A college degree has become for most Americans, perhaps to an unprecedented extent, the sine qua non of upward economic mobility. Census data show the surprisingly large amount by which average annual incomes of bachelors-degree holders exceed incomes even of those who attended college but did not graduate. Competition for admission to the most prestigious colleges, many of whose graduates occupy envied positions, has grown more rivalrous. Rejection from these top institutions can be painful, not least to parents who want the world for their children. Yet the noise this issue generates should not, as a factual matter, be mainly attributable to exclusion of white applicants.