Re: the view that race-based affirmative action mostly benefits wealthy students of color...

[Anonymous Bosh]

1. Anecdotes

I used to work for a company that had a robust charitable arm. One program provided internships and scholarships to underrepresented minorities. I was on the review board for about five years. It caused me great concern that the vast majority of the students we supported lived in tony zip codes and attended private schools.

It was my opinion that such kids did not need our help: they were academically competitive all on their own, exclusive of their "+1"status. I mean, internships and scholarships just added more fuel to these kids career rockets. (It was discussed as s long-term strategy: to get underrepresented minorities into leadership positions and, to be fair, we also supported programs in "bad" neighborhoods...)

Cultural capital totally applies. I support "earliest intervention," helping new parents understand the value of reading and education. But it's much easier to throw money at the already successful and call it a day.

As an aside, I also give credence to "overadmission," where talented but unprepared kids are thrown into super-rigorous schools. Under intense pressure to perform (and look good), many flame out. What might have been a future doctor, scientist or engineer at, say, an HBCU, at Harvard ends up as a sociology major (no offense intended to any soc majors here!).