Reddit mentions of No Longer Separate, Not Yet Equal: Race and Class in Elite College Admission and Campus Life

Class-based affirmative action is an oft-cited alternative to race-based affirmative action, because Americans would rather ascribe social concerns to class rather than racial inequities.

Regarding the oft-cited Espenshade quote: he elaborated that he "does not think his data establish[es]” an anti-Asian bias, because his study with Radford, which was the centerpiece of No Longer Separate, Not Yet Equal, only accounted for "objective" numbers such as GPA and SAT scores -- not extracurricular activities, personal statements, or other extenuating circumstances that are typically considered by private schools. The Espenshade and Radford study also found that race-conscious affirmative action creates more diversity on college campuses than any other form (and they used over 7 models that featured combinations of considering/not considering income, test scores in general, and race). Whether one believes diversity on college campuses is valuable is a personal matter of consideration, of course, though the Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that this is a legitimate reason for affirmative action to exist, at least for the time being.

Race-based affirmative action tilts admission outcomes in favor of historically underserved and underrepresented minorities, but one should not fall for the whole-to-part fallacy and believe that race is the first thing admissions committees look at. It's usually a more distant factor in determining admission, behind all of the other things I've listed. It's easy to believe that race is a primary or secondary consideration because we look at the numbers that the admissions process produces, not the entire process of admission, and draw conclusions quickly.

Also, this may not be entirely relevant, but Unz's "analysis" in The Myth of American Meritocracy (a mostly admirable article, one must admit) that allowed him to conclude that Jews have fallen precipitously in academic achievement while maintaining ludicrously high levels of Ivy League enrollment is at best, specious, and at worst, complete bullshit.

Personal perspective comment: I can say with some confidence that as an aggregate, Asian students are weaker on the non-quantitative aspects of college admission. They (and their parents) mull over joining clubs and performing extracurricular activities explicitly for the purpose of admission and nothing more, and the lack of conviction shows on college applications. Keep in mind that most Asians, like any other people, are merely average.

tl;dr: Class-based affirmative action is popular but race-based affirmative action is more effective for diversity, an explanation SCOTUS approves of. Asian students need a higher SAT score to get in college, yes, but it's not just because the deck is stacked against them; there are some things they need to work on. Ron Unz tried too hard to call out the Jews in his book-length article about higher ed.

-an Asian who cares too much about this issue