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One of the most fundamental beliefs that America was founded on was that all men are created equal. That obviously isn't technically true, but the spirit behind it - that everyone should get a fair chance to make the most of their natural talents - is a noble and desirable idea.

But as long as colleges aren't actively discriminating against black students (and let's not kid ourselves, this is a Black and White issue, nobody is getting worked up about Jews or the Irish any more) surely that's good enough? Right?

Wrong.

African-Americans and most other minorities are disproportionally represented in the statistics (such as single parent families and households below the poverty line) that are negatively correlated with educational success. We can wring our hands about it, or blame the past, or wishy washy liberal enablers, or whatever your favourite reason is, or we can consider race in a college application and go some way to making the world a more equal place.

Race is only useful in as much as it is a shortcut to identify disadvantaged students. But why not take poor white students? Well, like it or not, people identify more with those who look like them. By favoring students of a certain race now, we are creating future role models for their communities.

To quote the shampoo advert, it won't happen overnight, but it will happen.

Another advantage of considering race in college admissions is that it increases diversity. It's harder to dislike or fear a group when you know some of its members. How are we going to create a world where little white children and little black children hold hands, if the little black children's parents didn't get in to college because they went to a horrible secondary school and the college didn't take that into account?

Considering race in the admissions process only creates an equality of opportunity. Once there, minority students have to work at least as hard, if not harder, than white students to graduate.

Like it or not, the world is not fair, being white confers me all sorts of advantages, I should not and will not complain if it count against me in a college admissions situation.

Learn more about this author, Richard Bulkeley.
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