Why the College Admissions Scandal Angers Black Folks


Some see it as an egregious flexing of white privilege: A virtual bomb erupted this week over revelations that wealthy parents, including a few well-known Hollywood actors, bribed their kids’ way into some of the nations’ most prestigious colleges and universities in a widespread college admissions scandal.

Rich parents, including popular TV actors Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, were ensnared in the scandal after the FBI alleges they and many other wealthy, white parents took part in an elaborate scam that got their children admitted into these schools and some of them, onto very competitive college sport teams—even if their child had never played sports before.

There is a wave of outrage among the black community. For far too long, black students, who often have to work twice as hard to get into elite colleges, have been derided as “affirmative action cases.” That is, black students have simply been admitted to these schools because of their skin color and not because of their skills and hard work.

The hypocrisy is ripe and many black people have expressed outrage. In one particularly pointed social media post, L-Mani S. Viney, educator and youth advocate, as per his Facebook profile, expressed publicly what many black people are feeling about the situation:

Seeing posts from friends asking why everyone is so shocked about this college scandal. Lets set this straight right now. Ain’t no Black person shocked. We celebrating. And what you are seeing is every Brother and Sister, who had their intellect, character and culture questioned by the elitists, speak out with the FACTS…

 

“Today the world sees what we always knew, that the wealthy spoiled brats had to cheat and use all their resources just to compete with “US” lower and middle class kids who have had to fight for everything we got, when they had everything handed to them…

 

So today isn’t “shock” for no one. Its a celebration.

Because today is the day that every spoiled brat, elitist rich kid whose mommy and daddy’s thought that they could buy the illusion of superiority found out the most important FACT:

 

That they were never as good as us

Comedian and outspoken political and social commentator DL Hughley weighed in on the scandal:

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Author and radio show host Clay Cane also reminded people that black educators were sent to prison for boosting students’ test scores:

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Others shared their own experiences with education racism:

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Many in the black social media sphere also compared this scandal to the recent news about the College Board accusing a young black woman, Kamilah Campbell, of cheating on her SAT test after achieving a high score:

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As CNN notes, the fallout from the admissions scandal is likely only beginning. The biggest takeaway, however, may be, the number of students who do not come from privileged families and may have been denied entry to these schools because of rich people cheating.


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