I certainly agree that competence is of prime importance, but I don't think the usual credentials presented for higher education --- SAT/ACT, class rank --- measure competence, only abstract intellectual matters. Certainly not plain common sense, which I think is essential for competence in most jobs. Those typical credentials are just good predictors of success in abstract intellectual tasks
A place for real reform is our professional and occupational licensing laws, which are provably rooted in Jim Crow. Many professions are best learned on the job, but state licensure requires expensive educational requirements, which both limits mobility and requires resources many minorities lack. When the 1910 Flexner report put the Rockefellers in charge of medical education, this was accomplished by states requiring doctors to have attended a medical school rated "A" or "B" by the AMA, which was lead by Rockefeller cronies. The AMA unfairly gave a grade of "C" to five of the seven Black medical schools, which, at the time, trained 80% of the black doctors - forcing their closure. There would not have been a need for affirmative action in medicine had these schools stayed open - but it all happened because of state professional licensing. A similar thing happened with black barbershops and cosmetology licensing.
Competence in military affairs is no less important than competence in other professions (and arguably more important). Allowing racial selection in military academies has and will continue to undermine competence in the officer corps of the US military. As a practical matter, this Supreme Court decision is about forty to fifty years too late and is DOA. AA has become deeply entrenched in government, education, and corporations. Their bureaucracies will work overtime to find work arounds to continue their racially discriminatory policies. Things have to change so they can stay the same.
I certainly agree that competence is of prime importance, but I don't think the usual credentials presented for higher education --- SAT/ACT, class rank --- measure competence, only abstract intellectual matters. Certainly not plain common sense, which I think is essential for competence in most jobs. Those typical credentials are just good predictors of success in abstract intellectual tasks
Tom:
Do those conditions still exist? Do you have any timelines for changes in licensure?
A place for real reform is our professional and occupational licensing laws, which are provably rooted in Jim Crow. Many professions are best learned on the job, but state licensure requires expensive educational requirements, which both limits mobility and requires resources many minorities lack. When the 1910 Flexner report put the Rockefellers in charge of medical education, this was accomplished by states requiring doctors to have attended a medical school rated "A" or "B" by the AMA, which was lead by Rockefeller cronies. The AMA unfairly gave a grade of "C" to five of the seven Black medical schools, which, at the time, trained 80% of the black doctors - forcing their closure. There would not have been a need for affirmative action in medicine had these schools stayed open - but it all happened because of state professional licensing. A similar thing happened with black barbershops and cosmetology licensing.
Competence in military affairs is no less important than competence in other professions (and arguably more important). Allowing racial selection in military academies has and will continue to undermine competence in the officer corps of the US military. As a practical matter, this Supreme Court decision is about forty to fifty years too late and is DOA. AA has become deeply entrenched in government, education, and corporations. Their bureaucracies will work overtime to find work arounds to continue their racially discriminatory policies. Things have to change so they can stay the same.