> Shouldn't this just be run-of-the-mill social democratic "lets hand out some extra opportunities/benefits to the poor" program?
In a lot of ways, affirmative action is a boogeyman that doesn't exist in the way many people think. In many large states, such as california, they already for a long time do not consider race as a factor in admissions, as per law. And, IMO, california has done a pretty good job of having fairly diverse schools, and they do precisely what you say - they focus their efforts on lifting up those who come from poor socioeconomic situations, which tends to capture a lot of the same people affirmative action was trying to do.
> In a lot of ways, affirmative action is a boogeyman that doesn't exist in the way many people think.
In that case, can you explain why two schools would've fought for the explicit use of race in deciding school admissions all the way to the Supreme Court?
California has been trying to overturn it's race-blind policy for some time. The original policy was instituted about the same time as everyone else's. The intent of overturning it, of course, is to then go further and institute a policy more like the one seen in this case.
It has been overturned at the referendum level every time.
You are referring to California public colleges. Some California private colleges which received federal funding were still using racial identity as a factor in admissions. I received an email from my alma mater today stating that they were discontinuing this practice due to the Supreme Court decision.
In a lot of ways, affirmative action is a boogeyman that doesn't exist in the way many people think. In many large states, such as california, they already for a long time do not consider race as a factor in admissions, as per law. And, IMO, california has done a pretty good job of having fairly diverse schools, and they do precisely what you say - they focus their efforts on lifting up those who come from poor socioeconomic situations, which tends to capture a lot of the same people affirmative action was trying to do.