Majority Support Banning the Consideration of Race During College Admissions: Poll

[freeloader]

There are two core beliefs people seem to have:
1. Equality of outcomes
2. Equality of opportunities

I believe in equality of opportunities

I find this idea very interesting. This is something that I have heard stated quite frequently by conservatives. I have almost never heard the other position, advocacy for equality of outcomes. To be sure, there are many on the left who bemoan the wide gulfs in wealth, education, and health between those in the dominant groups and those in historically disadvantaged groups, but I genuinely don’t believe I have ever heard it go so far as to advocate for equality of outcomes. The one exception might be for pay equity for identical work, but, it strikes me that this should be universally accepted by people who aren’t racist, sexist, etc. All of that to say, I think this argument is, to borrow a line from the great Orange leader, a big nothing burger. It is a rhetorical tool used by many on the right to make themselves appear superior to those who hold a position that, practically speaking, doesn’t exist. It certainly isn’t universally or widely held my the majority of people who would describe themselves as Democrats, liberals, progressives, at least based on everything I have seen and read. 

My second objection to this is that people who make this claim often want anything but equality of opportunity.  The people who make these claims also seem quite often to oppose things like adequate funding for education. They often seem to oppose bussing and the drawing of school zoning lines in ways which bring poorer students and students of color into richer and more white school zones and the zoning of richer and whiter students into school in poorer and more diverse neighborhoods. They often seem to oppose raising taxes to make college education more affordable. They often seem to support vouchers and similar programs which serve to siphon money and motivated students out of public education. 

I suppose there is some intellectual honesty in the position espoused by many on the right that they support equality of opportunity. If nobody has any opportunity for success in a “government school”, then everybody has the same opportunity. The rich kids have the opportunity to attend the same shitty public schools but don’t have to by virtue of being rich. 

I believe emphatically in equality of opportunity. I believe our schools, all of them, should have the resources to make it possible for every student to complete each grade level with skills appropriate to that grade. If that means that poorer schools and schools with more students of color end up needing more resources, I believe they should receive those resources. I believe public colleges and universities should be affordable for any student who is smart enough and accomplished enough to attend. I believe no student should have to look at college as something that people “from my neighborhood don’t do” and to have that grounded largely in finances. And I believe that we should have a more equitable tax system that provides the money necessary to actually provide equality of opportunity.  

What passes for so many on the right as “equality of opportunity” is, in my opinion, nothing of the sort. It is prioritization of inequality of outcome and policies which are designed to ensure that.  Stated somewhat differently, the opposite of equality of opportunity is not equality of outcome. The the opposite of equality of opportunity is inequality of opportunity.