Quiz
In 2022, UC filed an amicus brief in favor of affirmative action in 2022.
My own guess here was so far off that I thought this would make for an interesting quiz.
- Fun Quiz: Rank UCLA undergrad students by most over-represented to most under-represented for (1) Asian-Americans; (2) Blacks; (2) Latinos; and (4) Whites.
UCLA (UC)
According to the LA Times in Jan 2024,
| Asian | Black | Latino | White | Int’l | Sum | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UCLA | 36.8% | 7.7% | 28.7% | 22.0% | 95.2 |
I know: the LA Times numbers don’t add up. They probably mixed years, etc. I am too lazy to look up the real deal.
The UC and UCLA proportions tend to be somewhat similar, too.
California
The population of California seems to be
| Asian | Black | Latino | White | Mixed | Sum | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CA Census | 16.3% | 6.5% | 40.3% | 34.7% | 97.8 |
Underrepresented Ethnic Groups
So, roughly speaking,
| Asian | Black | Latino | White | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Repres | +132% | +22% | -27% | -35% |
| Most Over | Over | Under | Most Under |
The numbers above may be wrong (=lazy), but it seems to me that the most underepresented group at UCLA today are Whites. This is not a normative statement (i.e., how it should be), but a descriptive statement (i.e., where UCLA is today).
So, here I am scratching my head.
What Should It Be?
If we were to set the proportions of students by ethnicity in line with their proportions in the population, UCLA would have to discriminate its admissions/enrollment against Asians (most) and Blacks, and in favor of Latinos and Whites (most).
If the goal of Affirmative Action is to correct California’s historical ills, Asians were of course historically underrepresented minorities and discriminated against in California — perhaps as much as the non-slave state California discriminated against its Blacks. There is plenty of historical shame by our great-great-great-grandfathers to go around here (and perhaps a good deal today, too, though nothing like what it used to be.)
However, I still need an answer. If you are in favor of fair treatment (not in the Thomas Sowell sense, of course), please articulate what the fair representation of students by ethnicity should be. And your numbers should add up to 100%, of course, unlike the LA Times numbers.
Full disclosure: I am very skeptical of all tribalism.