[lovelyivy84]

I don't participate in conversations on affirmative action almost on general principle, BUT I had to comment:

AOPi, you sound very naive. Do you really think that we have anything approaching a level field in America? On any level? I assure you that when it comes to education that we do not. THere are a number of school districts that are suffering from de jure segregation STILL. And guess who gets the worse of the situation? Schools that are in minority neighborhoods in general suck. The chances of a black student in any city receiving the same education as a white student are slim. Some of the worst case scenarios are just mind boggling (suggested reading: ANYTHING by ARthur Kozol)- schools without books, schools where classes are taught in broomclosets.

Affirmative action is not needed only to redress historical wrongs, it is needed to ensure that there is anything approcahing parity in college admissions, not because black students are lazy or stupid, but because they simply do not have the same educational opportunities as whites, often enough that this is a major problem in the black community.

I tell this story often- I went to a Private, predominately white high school.My good friend went to a local public school. She was head of the student body, a straight A student, got good scores, and at the end had a college guidance counselor who referred her to a state school. Never a mention of a Harvard or a Yale because he did not even conceive that oneof his students could go there.

There is not parity. AA, in its most beneficial form, addresses that.

White women need not complain about it- you receive the benefits of AA and you don't really suffer any of the prejudices and setbacks that REAL minorities do.