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<p>I agree. Yes, a poor inner-city black child needs a serious break to able to compete with the best students nationwide. But when your parents both have phDs, make well over $100k/year, and sent you to private schools, it’s a mockery of the system to get admission preference because you just happen to have dark skin.</p>
<p>I think " diversity" means what ever you want it to mean.
My petite blue eyed blond daughter was the " diversity" at several of the schools she attended growing up.
She may have had white skin, but she came from a solidly blue collar lowish middle income household & when she attended college she was considered first gen- because neither I or my husband have ever attended a 4 yr university.
( her college also has a mentor program for first gen students- she had a mentor her first yr & she still keeps in contact with the students who were her mentees)</p>
<p>My sister in law- is from South America- came here as an adult- her family was well to do- at least I would consider a family that has a compound with room for several households & owns a chain of restaurants well to do.
She doesn’t consider herself " hispanic" however, but white.
( unfortunately the community where she lived in Indiana did not agree)</p>
<p>My D has friends that are AA & some that are fairly new to this country. In our area, we have a great deal of kids with one parent who is white & the other Asian/black/from the Middle East- etc. OR the kids could be adopted with similar parents. They all have something to add that might be a bit different than a white kid with two college educated white parents who have lived here for generations.</p>
<p>Private schools can decide what diversity means to them & whether or not they want to use it as a criteria when choosing a class for admission- public schools often have legal constraints regarding that - but they seem to come up with other ways to make that work anyway.</p>
<p>To go back to the thread heading- immigrants didn’t come to the USA so they could walk on Hollywood Blvd- ( or maybe they did?). They often came here for a better life for their family- whatever that means- that means they probably have a clear goal & that often includes education. They may have even given up good jobs as medical Drs or engineers in order to start all over again. They are ready to do whatever it takes for their kids to have a better life.
For example the couple that own the corner gas station are from Tibet- they work very hard & their kids attend one of the best private schools in the country. They are willing to work so hard because they want their kids to have more options.</p>
<p>But it can be different if you are looking at American life another way- just seeing everyone having it easier than you- & perhaps it doesn’t seem like you are getting ahead or that your childrens life will be any different.</p>
<p>A defeatist attitude I know- but I have heard parents discourage their kids from trying AP classes because it is too much work & praise them much more for points scored than grades achieved. It takes a lot of energy to keep focused on lifting your family up.</p>