I have heard about those things. I don't agree with dumbing down tests. I do agree with changing some of the language though. For example. Regatta, catilion, debutante, are examples of words that were removed from some standardized tests. Tell me, what kid from the inner city of Pittsburgh or the mountains of West Virginia are going to be familiar with those words? It's just not part of their life and it's not taught in school. That's not dumbing down the test, it's making it less exclusive to the people who are privileged enough to have those things in their life.
Universities have been through the years notorious for not accepting minority students, regardless of grades. In order to change that. . I'm sure you know the story. Now, one can argue that it's no longer needed, good students get in regardless of race, fine and good. However, there are a disproportionate number of students in poor neighborhoods with low tax revenue that are minorities. Because of the low tax revenue, schooling is bad, leading most often to bad education, then bad jobs, then lower tax revenue in their neighborhoods in which they are now stuck, and the cycle continues. Books have been written about this.
Now, another argument can be made in order to break this cycle it is a good idea to bring in students from these areas who show promise, yet still may not have the academic achievement in high school. It is with this justification that most affirmative action programs are supported now.
As far as the job crack, it is what he used to explain his 'reverse racism' theory and how the everyone thinks about race, so much so that he dismisses a scientific study. It's ludicrous.
FuzzNJ wrote: