Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Legal Commentary Blogs -> Discriminations

Legal Commentary

: Discriminations

If Schools Discriminate Against Blacks, Do They Discriminate In Favor Of Asians?

In the post immediately below I discussed the Obama Dept. of Education?s view that lower minority graduation rates and lower participation in advanced placement courses, etc., reflect a pervasive problem of civil rights violations in our nation?s schools.

In that regard, however, consider the penetrating question asked by George Leef:

American colleges and universities are delighted to have minority students. They?re usually specially recruited and often given favorable treatment by the administration and professors. Some minority students work hard, perform very well, and graduate with honors. So why is it that graduation rates for minority students tend to be low? Is it because schools haven?t learned how to teach them? I don?t think so. The explanation is that on the whole, those students enter college with far lower basic academic skills (which can seldom be overcome just with a remedial course or two) and less academic engagement.

If you doubt that, ask yourself if the very high graduation rate among Asian students is because schools are ?good at teaching them,? or because those students generally have high skills and motivation as they enter college....

Good question. If the ?underrepresentation? of some minorities in advanced school courses and programs means the schools are discriminating against them, does the ?overrepresentation? of Asians mean the schools are discriminating in favor of them?

Isn?t it posible, that is, that students and their families might be more responsible for how students perform than their schools?

Full post as published by Discriminations on March 08, 2010 (boomark / email).