Colour blind

TEAM Trump last week undid an Obama-era directive that encouraged colleges to do the reverse of what the Rev Martin Luther King jr wanted – namely, to judge applicants more by the colour of their skin and less by the content of their character. Trump officials on Tuesday rescinded a set of “guidances” issued from 2011 to 2016 that presumed to tell schools what racial preferences they could employ.

The Center for Equal Opportunity compared that to “the FBI issuing a document” on how to use racial profiling “in a way where you won’t get caught”. Yes, Supreme Court rulings have okayed colleges’ narrow use of racial preferences. But schools endrun those limits, as early evidence uncovered in the discrimination lawsuit against Harvard by Students for Fair Admissions makes clear.

Crunching Harvard’s data, Duke economist Peter Arcidiacono found an Asian-American male with a 25 percent chance of admission would have a 36 percent chance if treated as white, 75 percent if Hispanic and 95 percent if black. You don’t have to be an Asian-American to be outraged.

Such extreme racial preferences don’t even do their “beneficiaries” any favours, since it sets them up to compete with students who are far better prepared. Arcidiacono and others have documented how black students at top schools often wind up switching out of science, engineering and math majors, if not dropping out completely.

The Justice Department now vows to go after any college that intentionally discriminates. Liberals will holler, but the more the nation follows Martin Luther King’s advice, the more fair – and more unified – it’ll be.