donna jackson
Discussions about the need for meritocratic university admissions should begin with the goal of education: contributing to the economic production of the community. George Washington Carver, a black American botanist, inventor, and former slave, said it best when he said that education is the key to unlocking the golden door of freedom.
If you can do the ordinary things in life in an unusual way, you can attract the attention of the world.
As Black Americans, let us follow Carver’s extraordinary example of what we can accomplish for ourselves and the communities in which we live. To his credit, no individual has contributed more to the growth of the world’s population than he. He pioneered crop rotation, founded the Institute of Industrial Agriculture, and developed hundreds of uses for new plants. His more than 300 uses for peanuts, soybeans, pecans, and sweet potatoes he developed are now used in 94% of his household products.
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George Washington Carver was driven by a desire to help poor black people and, yes, poor white people. But today, we should believe that black Americans are incapable of achieving such results. In the minds of administrators and advocates who advocate lowering academic standards, eliminating homework, tests, and deadlines, and feeling that math is racist, today’s black students are His contribution is immeasurable. Because, of course, we are too fragile, helpless, and certainly stupid. And it is this kind of racist thinking that leads to the need to abolish merit-based admissions.
But no one benefits from abandoning merit-based college admissions in favor of a race-based approach or any other approach. The Supreme Court’s recent decision denying admissions based on race is not only sound law, it is also sound policy. Increasing attempts by educational institutions to circumvent SCOTUS decisions are hurting the very students they claim to support.
College prepares young people for the job market, but some career paths can be very demanding and competitive. If high school students applying to college are not eligible for a particular academic program, admitting them anyway will only reduce their chances of success upon graduation, and that’s if they graduate. .
Perhaps some students can succeed at their highest academic level with a year or two of community college or a stint in the military. But throwing them into the fire before they are ready will only harm and damage them in the long run. It takes away opportunities from others.
Additionally, rigorous standards foster excellence. Consider the great basketball player, Michael Jordan. He was motivated by not being able to make the varsity team in high school.
“When I got tired during a workout and wanted to quit, I would close my eyes and look at my anonymous list in the locker room. That usually got me going again,” he said. Ta.
Conversely, exempting young people from standards gives them a sense of entitlement and inhibits their long-term development. A person who is told that he is too fragile to cope with difficult situations begins to doubt his own abilities, and his abilities are not available when needed. And people who are made to feel like they owe something are less likely to achieve. If Michael Jordan had been given an automatic spot on the team, we probably would never have heard of him.
Of course, much of the blame lies with the failing public schools in which so many underprivileged youth are trapped. The solution is to fix these public schools or provide alternatives. Don’t simply ignore the damage that providing informal assignments and contingency funds has done to students’ readiness for higher education.
Economic empowerment comes from developing future entrepreneurs, industry leaders, and innovators. The role of education is to prepare young people for success. Subverting the process to achieve racial outcomes defeats this purpose.
Donna Jackson is a member of the Project 21 Black Leadership Network. She wrote this on her InsideSources.com.