For the past 40 years, furious debate has swirled around affirmative action. Stirring the pot anew is the U.S. Supreme Court's announced plan to revisit the issue this year. At the University of Michigan, being black automatically counts "20 points" toward admission — considerably more than any academic or cognitive achievement (a perfect SAT score, for example, only counts "12 points"). The "point" system is not qualified in any way; as far as I can tell, Bill Cosby's kids would be eligible for preferential admissions at the University of Michigan as members of a "disadvantaged" or "underrepresented" group. Two white … Continue reading An Essay by Steven Yates