Fairness without racial preference - A reply to Dr Price
When, in 2007, I initiated a debate about race-based affirmative action in South African universities, those responding to my critique of this practice unashamedly defended the use of race in admissions and appointments. I am pleased to see that the current leadership at UCT has a more nuanced view.
Dr Max Price, writing in the Mail & Guardian in recent weeks (see here and here), recognizes that the use of race in admissions is regrettable - something his predecessors did not concede. He argues, however, that a race-based admissions policy is still necessary because a suitable alternative proxy for disadvantage has not yet been found.
Dr Price is correct that those who have been educationally disadvantaged should not be judged, in admissions decisions, by the same standards as those who have not been disadvantaged. He also recognizes that while "blacks" have in general been disadvantaged relative to "whites", it is not the case that all "blacks" and no "whites" have been disadvantaged.
However, he denies that an affirmative action policy could be based on which school one has attended rather than on one's purported "race". This, he says, is because even "blacks" who have attended privileged schools may be educationally disadvantaged in other ways.
Dr Price mentions three such disadvantages. The first is the educational level of a person's parents. If parents had inadequate education, they are unable to help their children with their schoolwork and their children will thus be disadvantaged irrespective of which school the children attend.