Offices of “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” are now found at most of our colleges and universities. Admissions are heavily weighted in favor of students who come from (or at least appear to come from) “underrepresented minority” groups. Criticize any of this, and your career in education will probably come to an abrupt end.
There are, however, a few resolute critics who argue that racial preferences are a harmful policy — and unconstitutional to boot. In a book published last year, A Dubious Expediency, law professors Gail Heriot and Maimon Schwarzschild brought together eight hard-hitting essays making a strong case that the obsession with race has done tremendous damage to education in America.
On Law & Liberty today, law professor Amy Wax reviews the book.
Here is her conclusion: “In sum, affirmative action and the double standards that come with it have been accompanied by a refusal to recognize or acknowledge that groups are not currently equal in their capacities, competencies, potential, and talents. The widespread adoption of racial preferences throughout our education establishment and our economy has fueled destructive, unrealistic expectations of equal results for different groups. The imperative to hide and misrepresent the facts and indulge hypersensitive minorities who insist on being protected from them fuels the “woke,” progressive dogmas that have enveloped our campuses and our society. Dishonesty about race and group differences has undermined academia to the point of destruction and threatens to destroy society itself. The critical question is whether these trends can be arrested or reversed.”
Read the whole thing.