2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
The S.A.T. - - Suppressing African-Americans to The End
4/6/04
Editorials
Editorials
Not too long ago for many of us, a respectable score on the S.A.T. was the master key that unlocked all doors to opportunity. So for months many of us crammed away at analogies like partisan is to cause, as sectarian is to sect, and so forth to prove our educational proficiency. For others, a summer paycheck spent on Kaplan or Princeton Review training courses and review books would surely ensure success. But when the white envelope full of our Harvard, (excuse me Howard) hopes and dreams finally arrived, disappointment soon settled in after the initial shock.
For decades the S.A.T. has been scrutinized by many as being a racially biased exam. The evident "achievement gap" between minorities and their Asian and non-Hispanic white counterparts is outstanding. However in its most recent annual report, the College Board disclosed a pivotal statistic that has been overlooked by all too many. Last year one fourth of the students who took the exam declined to identify themselves with a particular racial group or ethnicity. The racial omission of this record portion of test-takers not only attests to the ever growing disdain among Americans with such trivial forms of racial profiling but also alters the overall measurement of the "achievement gap." Without the College Board taking such variables into consideration, the reported combined math and verbal scores in 2003 for blacks was (857), Hispanics (905), whites (1063), and Asians (1083).
The inaccuracy of these reports has now made it increasingly difficult for many colleges and universities to comply with the 2003 Supreme Court affirmative action decision. Not to mention that this new predicament affects the vast number of organizations that often provide merit based scholarships to minority students and their school districts. Although we do not encourage placing oneself in a pigeon-hole racial category, we do advocate for those of African ancestry e to be proud of their rich, diverse and enduring heritage. Without getting too fixated on the percentage of A mixed with B blended with C that encompass who you are, please take into consideration how potentially detrimental choosing the "other" category can be.
For decades the S.A.T. has been scrutinized by many as being a racially biased exam. The evident "achievement gap" between minorities and their Asian and non-Hispanic white counterparts is outstanding. However in its most recent annual report, the College Board disclosed a pivotal statistic that has been overlooked by all too many. Last year one fourth of the students who took the exam declined to identify themselves with a particular racial group or ethnicity. The racial omission of this record portion of test-takers not only attests to the ever growing disdain among Americans with such trivial forms of racial profiling but also alters the overall measurement of the "achievement gap." Without the College Board taking such variables into consideration, the reported combined math and verbal scores in 2003 for blacks was (857), Hispanics (905), whites (1063), and Asians (1083).
The inaccuracy of these reports has now made it increasingly difficult for many colleges and universities to comply with the 2003 Supreme Court affirmative action decision. Not to mention that this new predicament affects the vast number of organizations that often provide merit based scholarships to minority students and their school districts. Although we do not encourage placing oneself in a pigeon-hole racial category, we do advocate for those of African ancestry e to be proud of their rich, diverse and enduring heritage. Without getting too fixated on the percentage of A mixed with B blended with C that encompass who you are, please take into consideration how potentially detrimental choosing the "other" category can be.