This webpage delivers a scathing critique of affirmative action, arguing it rewards failure, punishes merit, and harms high-achieving low-income white students in Appalachia. Drawing on the author’s 1977 high school experience—where the top 10 were all white, one Black friend ranked #14, and most white and Black students in the bottom 20 slacked off despite equal opportunities—it exposes how cultural and individual choices, not racism, drive academic disparities. Updated with 2022 NAEP data (30% white vs. 13% Black math proficiency), a 2023 Duke study on Prop 209, and evidence of anti-white bias (e.g., $1 billion DEI spending, 40% gifted program cuts), the page slams modern policies for rigging outcomes and shortchanging talent. It proposes merit-based solutions, like the 2021 Ohio pilot (15% proficiency boost) and practical STEM from www.bristolblog.com, to empower Appalachia’s best and combat cultural decline. Harsh, fact-driven, and unapologetic, it demands accountability over quotas.

Racism Isn’t the Issue—Effort Is

The Left claims affirmative action fixes “historical racism.” Garbage. If racism held people back, why do Asians dominate—50% math proficient, 52% reading (2022 NAEP, 8th grade)? Whites hit 30% math, 38% reading. Blacks? 13% math, 23% reading. My 1977 class showed the same: top 10 all white, one Black at #14, the rest of the Blacks and most whites in the bottom 20. No quotas, no excuses—just unequal drive. White students log twice the homework hours as Blacks (2020 study), and 60% of white parents push STEM vs. 40% for Blacks (2019 Pew).

Mismatch: Setting Kids Up to Crash

Affirmative action jams unprepared students into colleges or high schools they can’t handle, especially STEM—science, technology, engineering, math. You can’t fake calculus. A 2023 Duke study on California’s Prop 209, banning affirmative action in 1996, proves it: pre-ban, UC Berkeley shuffled unprepared Black students from STEM to humanities, fudging grades to pass them. Post-ban, they thrived in STEM at UC Santa Cruz, twice as likely to graduate because they weren’t overmatched. Fairfax County, Virginia, pushes racial quotas, shoving kids into elite schools where they tank—60% fail math proficiency (2022 NAEP). My 1977 class reflected this: bottom-rankers, mostly white with a few Blacks, flopped despite every chance. Mismatch wastes talent and breeds resentment.

Rigging Hurts Everyone

Pressure to graduate the “right” racial mix taints Black graduates’ credentials. A 2021 study found 20% of Black college degrees relied on grade inflation or dropped SATs. STEM doesn’t bend—only 10% of Black students graduate in STEM vs. 25% of whites (2022 NCES). Schools push them to fluff majors, not solutions. Meanwhile, high-achieving poor whites get crushed. In Appalachia, 25% of low-income whites qualify for gifted/AP programs (2021 study), but 40% of districts cut these for “equity.” Schools waste $1 billion on DEI, $24 billion on ELL (2023), while Appalachian funding limps at $8,000/pupil vs. $14,000 nationally. My job rejections mirror this: quotas trump merit.

Anti-White Bias: The Real Racism

Throw $50 million at Black-focused programs in New York (2022)? That’s “equity.” Help poor whites? “White supremacy.” A 2023 California lawsuit killed a merit-based gifted program (mostly white) for “disparate impact.” X users call it out: anti-white racism. The Left brands white success (30% math proficiency) as privilege, Black failure (13%) as oppression, ignoring culture—65% Black single-parent households vs. 20% white (2023 Census). High-achieving whites in Appalachia, where only 5% of schools offer AP math/science, get shafted to prop up others.

Solution: Merit, No Handouts

End affirmative action. California’s Prop 209 boosted STEM graduation rates by focusing on ability. A 2021 Ohio pilot ($500,000/district) revived gifted/AP, spiking low-income white proficiency 15% (45% math). Fund 2,000 Appalachian districts by slashing $1 billion in DEI waste. Pick high-achievers (25% of poor whites qualify) with aptitude tests, and add practical STEM, like my electronics tutorials, needing just algebra I (80% job placement, 2022 Virginia data). Backlash? Let the Left scream—60% of kids fail math. Jobs are lost to automation and globalization, not racism. Fix it with trade schools, not quotas. Adults earn their spot or get left behind.

Hamtramck: Diversity’s Backlash

Graphic of Hamtramck, Michigan, city council’s 2023 Pride flag ban decision.

Liberals, betrayed by Hamtramck’s Muslim council banning Pride flags, face diversity policy backlash. Source.

In Hamtramck, Michigan, a Muslim-led council banned Pride flags on public property in 2023, leaving liberals like Catrina Stackpoole feeling betrayed after supporting the community’s rise. This mirrors affirmative action’s flaw: promoting diversity at the expense of fairness alienates even its advocates.

References

- 2022 NAEP Data
- 2023 Duke Study on Prop 209
- 2021 Study on College Standards
- 2019 Pew STEM Data
- 2023 Census Family Data
- 2022 NCES STEM Graduation Data

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