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Letters to the Editor: How affirmative action has helped democratize higher education

A demonstrator holds a sign expressing support for affirmative action outside the Supreme Court in Washington in 2015.
(Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press)
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To the editor: Like editorial writer Minerva Canto, I support affirmative action, because along with fighting against high drop out rates, against the tracking of minority students out of college prep classes, and for bilingual education, it has been one of many tools that has helped democratize higher education in our country since 1976.

Data from the U.S. Census and the National Center for Education Statistics show that between 1976 and 2016, the minority population of our country went up 189%, but the number of minority students who got into college went up twice as fast, increasing by 381%. The number of minority students who earned college degrees went up even faster, increasing by 518%.

While the percentage of Black, Hispanic and Native American students who go to college and graduate still lags behind the percentage of white students, the gap has closed. We need to keep affirmative action and continue to fight to make a college education accessible to all our students.

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John Perez, North Hollywood

The writer was a member of the California Postsecondary Education Commission from 2005 to 2011.

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To the editor: The editorial is prime example of how affirmative action has discriminated against Asian Americans.

Canto writes, “The fact remains that a majority of Native American, Latino, Pacific Islander and Black students suffer from disadvantaged socioeconomic conditions and other factors that affect their academics.”

What about Asian American students who suffer the same?

Andrew Ko, San Marino

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To the editor: Colleges and universities should eliminate affirmative action policies with respect to admissions just as soon as they agree to terminate legacy admissions.

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According to the group Education Reform Now, in 2020 legacy admits accounted for between two and four times the number of Black students in freshman classes at highly selective universities. The level playing field, minus affirmative action, slants dramatically in the direction of privilege.

Dave Sanderson, La Cañada Flintridge

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