Damning Chart Single-Handedly Takes Down Media's 'White Privilege' Narrative
At what point does the push for “equality” become its own version of discrimination?
That’s the uncomfortable but important question that needs to be asked after surprising details about university acceptance rates were published by the American Enterprise Institute.
By now, almost everyone has heard the term “white privilege.” The concept, pushed by liberals, is that white Americans have an unfair and unearned advantage over other races in the country, despite decades of trying to level the playing field.
As a result of that perceived “privilege,” policies like affirmative action supposedly try to lift certain minorities up by giving them advantageous treatment.
What often ends up happening, however, is that some races are pulled down instead, and this meddling leads to the same kind of race-based discrimination that America is supposed to be against.
Case in point: An eye-opening chart from AEI shows that if a level playing field is the goal, affirmative action is failing miserably, at least when it comes to medical school acceptance.
The institute compared university medical school acceptance numbers for people of different races who have similar MCAT scores.
That Medical College Admission Test is the gold standard for determining which students are best prepared to enter the challenging medical field. In theory, candidates with similar MCAT scores should be equally ready to enter medical school.
You might think that universities would have pretty similar acceptance rates for all people who do well on the MCAT. After all, skin color isn’t supposed to be a factor; an individual’s preparedness to handle the courses should be the only consideration.
The facts paint a disturbing picture, however. Among medical school applicants with almost identical MCAT scores, Asian and white individuals seem to be discriminated against, while Hispanic and black students are accepted at dramatically higher rates.
“(For) applicants to US medical schools between 2013-2016 with average GPAs (3.40 to 3.59) and average MCAT scores (27 to 29), black applicants were almost 4 times more likely to be accepted to US medical schools than Asians in that applicant pool (81.2% vs. 20.6%), and 2.8 times more likely than white applicants,” reported AEI.
If you don’t see the problem, re-read the last paragraph again. Remember, these are people with almost identical MCAT scores. There isn’t a major difference in their academic preparedness. The evidence is clear: Certain races are being given preferential treatment over others … and it isn’t whites.
So much for the “white privilege” claim.
“For students applying to medical school with slightly below average GPAs of 3.20 to 3.39 and slightly below average MCAT scores of 24 to 26 (first data column in the table, shaded light blue), black applicants were more than 9 times more likely to be admitted to medical school than Asians,” AEI continued.
At first glance, this could be seen as a “win” for black Americans. After all, more black students getting into medical school is good, right?
Yes … but only if they were chosen in a color-blind process and earned the opportunity through their test scores, not their skin color.
The data show that this isn’t happening. The fact that certain races are being given preferential treatment despite having similar scores means that different groups are being discriminated against.
After all, for every applicant accepted into a prestigious program, another hopeful student receives a rejection letter — and to be rejected for being the wrong race is deeply disturbing.
Has “affirmative action” gone so far that some races are being held back in admissions so that other races can be shown favoritism? That’s certainly what the data suggest.
Where is the outrage over racial minorities being systematically excluded from schools despite their test scores? Asian Americans, who are only about 5 percent of the U.S. population, are almost certainly facing discrimination based on these facts, but it seems they’re the “wrong” minority for the left to care.
Look at the distribution of the lowest MCAT score category to see how blatant the discrepancy is. Around half — 56 percent — of black medical school applicants with MCAT scores between 24 and 26 were accepted.
In contrast, only 8 percent of whites and a shockingly low 6 percent of Asians with the exact same scores were accepted. That is the textbook definition of racial discrimination, yet liberals are strangely quiet.
This is the problem with pushing equal results over equal opportunities. In their misguided quest to replace true equality with a feel-good culture, affirmative action busy-bodies have simply shifted the problem somewhere else. Nothing has been solved; it’s just a different minority that is now being trod on.
What happened to judging individuals by their accomplishments and the content of their character, instead of their race? Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous dream has become a strange, twisted affirmative action nightmare.
It’s almost impossible to come to any other conclusion based on this evidence. Colleges are racially profiling … it just happens to be against Asian and white students, and so apparently fine.
“US medical schools are granting special preferences for admissions on the basis of race for certain preferred minority groups (blacks and Hispanics) over other equally qualified non-preferred minority groups (Asians) and whites,” AEI summarized.
“Even if factors other than GPA and MCAT scores are considered for admission to medical school, wouldn’t it still be very hard to conclude that admissions policies to medical schools are completely ‘race-neutral’ and completely free of any ‘racial profiling’ practices that favor blacks and Hispanics over equally qualified Asians and whites?” asked the institute.
It’s a tough question, but one that needs to be addressed.
Here’s a thought: Maybe it’s time to put the failed and hypocritical affirmative action policies of the past aside, and focus on accomplishments instead.
Judge individuals based on their abilities, track record and work ethic — what a concept! Let’s set race quotas aside and create a truly level playing field where every student, no matter his or her background, has the same opportunities to succeed.
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