[Niten]

"Affirmative action", in the common understanding of the term, refers to non-race-blind processes in admissions and so forth. If, while controlling for all other variables, a person of race A has a different chance of being admitted than a person of race B because of their race, then yes, we certainly are talking about a form of racism.

On the other hand, as you point out, one could design a race-blind system that gives a leg up to people who grew up in poverty, people whose parents were incarcerated on account of the war on drugs, etc. This system would disproportionately give a leg up to black students, so when looked at from an angle of averaged-out racial group dynamics it may "approximate exactly what affirmative action does."

However, crucially, on an _individual_ level such a system would not discriminate between otherwise similar applicants on the arbitrary basis of race. Unlike affirmative action, such an alternative system as you describe would not be racist, and that is no small distinction.