journal summary

This journal article explores affirmative action in law school admissions. Linda F. Wrightman, while service as vice president of the Law School Admissions Council, did a study of 90,000 applicants for 1990-1991 law school admissions. She used this data to reflect that affirmative action is positive. However, taking a second glance at the same data, it actually reflects some negative aspects of affirmative action. It was discovered that African American applicants were far more likely to be unprepared academically and they also flunked the bar exam at higher rates. Stephan Thernstrom, a professor at Harvard University, explores Wrightman¡¦s data furthers and includes his own interpretation.

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Is he suggesting that the country¡¦s best institutions are theirs, and some how black students have been given the opportunity to attend unjustly? Whatever his attentions may have been, it is clear that black America really needs to step up to the plate and show white America that they are as qualified as anyone and can perform academically as good or even better. However, the data needs to re!

flect this and written in black and white for everyone to see. First black applicants received a heavier preference than people of other racial backgrounds who also came under the affirmative action umbrella.

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**Bibliography**

. He feels that ¡§on average black students are less prepared academically than their white peers¡¨. 5 times as many black students were admitted as would have been the case if academic qualifications alone were taken into account. Also, visible in her data there are two other patterns.

Although Wightman¡¦s data very clearly showed that black students were weighted very differently than whites, this does not mean that affirmative action is all bad.

Wightman¡¦s findings stated that eliminating racial preferences from the admissions process would reflect a major decrease in the number of black students accepted highly regarded institutions. However, Thernstorm¡¦s ignorant generalization of her conclusion is outrageous. Second, the ¡§better¡¨ the law school, the bigger boost it gave to black applicants. Their undergraduate grade point averages put them in the bottom 16 percent of all law students, and their LSAT scores were in the bottom tenth. Thernstrom¡¦s criticism of affirmative action makes it clear why it is still necessary to lot ways for minorities to succeed in today¡¦s ¡§white society¡¨, but why it is also necessary for black students to step up to the plate and perform at greater rates academically. Actually, the grades and scores of black students admitted through affirmative action were very low. He states that eliminating affirmative action will ¡§sharply reduce the number of black students accepted at our most selective and prestigious institutions.

Common topics in this essay:
Linda Wrightman, Admissions Council, Commentary December, African American, Harvard University, affirmative action, black students, law school, law school admissions, Stephan Thernstrom, school admissions, black applicants, , black students accepted, step plate, linda wrightman, selective prestigious, students accepted, students admitted, black students admitted,

Approximate Word count = 547
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

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