Legacy Admissions = Affirmative Action for White People.

So I’m a little angrier than usual about this. And that’s saying a lot (well, read the title of the blog, folks.)

I’m a student at a private college in the Northeast. I grew up on the West Coast, graduated from public grade school and a public university. Needless to say, the two institutions are like night and day. I go to school now with people who I never had any contact with before: the WASPy, overprivileged, polo-and-kate spade wearing upper class types who don’t really give a shit about other human beings. And one wonders: how did these people make it into med school in the first place? After all, isn’t this a meritocracy? Didn’t we get rid of that affirmative action bullshit a long time ago?

WRONG!

It still exists. We DO have affirmative action! except now….it is reserved exclusively for rich white people!

That’s right: hundreds of universities around the country are helping privileged WASPs everywhere with a little leg up over the competition- by giving them MORE PRIVILEGE!

But wait…isn’t this giving a handout to the these white people? Aren’t they going to feel inferior because they didn’t get into school on their own merit? Aren’t other deserving people being denied seats in exclusive professional and private schools because we’re ::gasp:: giving them an unfair advantage?

These are all arguments used (in breathtakingly hypocritical fashion) by opponents of affirmative action for underrepresented minorities, who apparently don’t give a shit about legacy admissions (which are not only practically the same thing, but worse as it compounds inequality and rewards white privilege?)

I find the whole idea of legacy privileges exceedingly vile. Not only does it expose the glaring hypocrisy of colleges that deny minority affirmative action, which is justified on the basis of remedying past discrmination, while simultaneously supporting and perpetuating pro-white affirmative action.  Case in point: somewhere around 20% of Harvard’s undergrad admits were sons and daughters of  (White) alumni!

What bothers me even more than all of the above is the idea that this racist/discriminatory/white privilege rewarding system is not going anywhere soon. Why, ladies and gents? Well, because millions of dollars are poured into endowments by those alumni parents who would love to buy little Jennifer and Michael their college seat. So to put it straight: our universities are essentially being bribed.

Meritocracy, my a**.

“I Hate Homeless People”

Or so said the fourth year medical student, doctor-to-be, who shall remain nameless.

Mind you, it was in a context. I was in a conversation where the topic of homeless people on the street came up. But when I heard this comment, I didn’t know whether ot burst out laughing or to completely snap at them, like “What the hell did the homeless ever do to you, you self-absorbed prick?”

I happen to be a first year medical student. I usually try to keep medicine/medical related topics completely off this blog, but this time, I found it difficult not to. There are a few things that have been bothering me deeply about medical school, namely the attitudes of some of the people I’m surrounded by. Mind you, everyone who has made it this far has gone through a ridiculous vetting process. MCAT, interview, brutal four years of undergrad, crazy extracurriculars, the whole nine yards.  Pardon me for assuming that compared to the general populace, doctors and medical students are more empathetic.

Man, was I wrong.

All you have to do is to hang out in class for awhile and you start feeling increasingly disturbed by what you hear. Hate for the homeless is the least of it. I can say for surety that a good portion of people are in school because a) mommy or daddy is paying for it b)everyone in their damn family is a doctor and c) they want to make tons of money and really don’t give a rat’s shit about saving lives, helping people, etc etc.  Let’s take that further. There are people who actually actively look DOWN on poor people and the impoverished of other nations. There are folks who not only bash primary care medicine, but also those who are choosing that as a career (which by the way, includes me?)

I’m not sure I can give an explanation. Maybe we’re already experiencing burnout, which supposedly decreases empathy? Or maybe the med school admissions process is becoming douchebag friendly? I have no idea. All I do know is that to think that these people will be in charge of human lives one day scares me shitless. The lack of empathy, caring, or plain awareness is going to make for yet another cadre of noncaring asshole doctors who see dollar signs and not patients.  What if I was in the shoes of a patient being treated? That thought is perhaps the scariest one of all.

Seattle Gets Schooled

Seattle has a dirty little secret.

It’s called Seattle Public Schools (SPS), a.k.a one of the most racially divided and unequal K-12 districts in the entire country. It is divided neatly between a privileged, white North End and a poor, black, immigrant-dominated South End. And the quality of education in the “South End” schools is absolutely deplorable compared to the North.

Not possible in a liberal, tolerant city like Seattle you say? I beg to differ: The “achievement” or “equity” gap, or the gaping gulf between wealthy white students and students of color in Seattle proper has been such a problem that they even created an “Office of Equity” awhile back…and then they promptly disbanded it after its director caused controversy with some inflammatory comments about race. (which I thought was hilarious…isn’t the point of the office to address racial issues?)

How would I know, you ask? Better yet, why do I give a damn about SPS’s problems (other than being a bleeding heart-liberal college student of color who cares about community issues, ha)?

Because I am a proud product of the Seattle Public Schools system circa 2003. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I was what the media charmingly calls an inner city school kid (still am, to some extent!) and in addition to that I’ve spent a fair amount of time as a college mentor/tutor in the South End high schools. I can speak to what I’ve seen personally, on the ground and as a student.

Let me break it down for you. It is common knowledge that if you want to get a halfway decent,AP-level, college-preparatory education–hell, if you want to go to college at all–you go to the following high schools: Roosevelt, Nathan Hale, Ballard, Garfield (ONLY if you’re in the “Gifted” program…otherwise you’re screwed). All of these schools, with the notable exception of Garfield, are in the Caucasian dominated North End, a.k.a. North of Downtown Seattle.

Wanna get a substandard education, inexperienced teachers, and almost no access to AP classes and circa-1950 textbooks? How about a lack of quality extracurriculars? Better yet, want a chronically underfunded academic experience? Mosey on down to the minority/immigrant-dominated South End and go to Cleveland, Ranier Beach, West Seattle, Franklin, Garfield High’s bottom floor (NON gifted)…and up until a few years ago, Ingraham HS. I guarantee you’ll probably see a grand total of maybe ten white people (teachers not included). Hell, my high school class had like eight in a class of 200.

So there’s the scene. So what’s the real story? how can we explain that in a government-funded academic system, two students in the SAME DISTRICT–one white, N End, the other minority, S End can have such UNEQUAL access to good education in the good ole “LIBERAL” Seattle? Why does one go to college, and the other not graduate (other than due to personal foibles?)

I went to one of the most privileged, white dominated middle schools in the entire city, and then to a N.End high school school that had lost all its Caucasian students due to white flight and now was dominated entirely by Black, Latino and Asian students fleeing the South End. What can explain the disparity? The answer is pure and simple: protection of white privilege. PTA’s, parents and school administrators catering to Seattle’s wealthy and influential, who don’t give a shit about whether a low-income Somali immigrant child from Ranier has a shot at going to the University of Washington. Money, influence, and connections only flow one way: North. This disparity of privilege and power trickles down to every individual student: it determines connections, education quality, safety, and in many instances: success in graduating.

Case in point: bussing. Seattle used to have a system where students from South Seattle get free transportation to attend a school far from where they live. (and vice versa…but most North end folks here would rather cut off their right arm than go to a S. End school). This was challenged by some disgruntled (white) parents who were appalled at the idea that their kid be–gasp!–denied entrance to Ballard because someone was being bussed in from downtown. And guess what? it was taken all the way to the Supreme Court, and they won (no thanks to Bush’s “Idelogically balanced” court. ha) The result? The maybe 30-50 minority kids who had a crack at getting a good education are denied access. Score one for the privileged folks. Basically it boils down to this: the N.End, white community of Seattle has essentially created its own district-within a district, and they will go any lengths to protect that system.

What’s the solution? I think that bussing needs to be revived for one. Second, rather than spend money on “Conversations on Race” (SPS’s ingenious plan to solve the aforementioned problem) they need to improve access to AP Programs and College-preparatory curriculum, standardized across the board starting from Elementary school. Of course, these are just broad things and there are problems that go much deeper. When you compare SPS to Bellevue Public Schools, next door for example the gap is just astronomical. But SPS provides a case-in-point: that within one school district, with a centralized authority we still see glaring inequalities. Money is a problem, yes, but I argue that bureaucracy–and the perpetuation of white privilege–is even greater.