[cwperkins]

Adversity isn't solely an economic argument though. It's a genuine effort to try to identify the true outliers. If you stand out significantly in a school district with a high absentee rate and low test scores it might indicate that you have perseverance and aptitude far greater then average and may be a better indicator of future performance then being a little above the mean at Phillips Exeter. These are not the most comfortable conversations to have because being above average at Phillips Exeter is an impressive feat and I don't want to discount this, but it's also important to recognize the people that rise through adversity. Can you answer the first 2 questions I posed in my original comment?

[bsanr2]

You're casting adversity in terms of economic adversity. A poorly-performing school district, rce-agnostic, performs poorly because it is likely underfunded in regards to its needs. That's your example, not mine. But adversity in America absolutely appears along racial lines, regardless of economic positioning. A black student at a top-performing school is carrying not only the obvious academic load of an intensive curriculum, but also the silent social load of race in America.

When someone like that, who is hopefully aware of the mechanisms of race even as they are buoyed on the privilege of wealth, enters an Ivy League school, they carry with them the legacy of black experience while also representing a high chance at academic success. He is not better than his lower-income brother, but his matriculation is not a loss for the concept of affirmative action in this manner. And until the long process of correcting the imbalance in representation in society - particularly elite society - is finished, affirmative action will be necessary. History has proven that certain aspects of our society have to be dragged kicking and screaming into progress and fulfillment of America's founding notions, and AA is one tool for doing so.