Bobert, where does "reparations" come into this?

Sure, levelling the playing field is crucial, but the key point is *equal* opportunities, that a black person or a white person is judged on their abilities and not on their race. Given inequalities of education, ability does not always equal academic achievement, so on a case-by-case basis the points score may well need some adjustment, but that's as true for white inner-city students as for black. The race issue only comes into it bcos black students are more likely to be attending poorer inner-city schools and/or living in neighbourhoods with social problems which make education difficult.

"Reparations" should not enter the equation. It is not the purpose of a university to favour one group over another to try and right past wrongs. Should there also be points bonuses for Chinese-American students, to make up for the Chinese labourers who were the backbone of the railway-building workforce? Or for Japanese-American students, to make up for the internment and confiscation of property from Japanese-Americans during WW2? Or should black people also pay lower taxes to make up for the money lost by their X-great-grandparents during slavery? By considering "reparation" in the equation, you're explicitly refusing to allow equality to people in the student body, workforce or society *today*. Either you have reparation or you have equality. It is not possible to have both. Me, I'd rather have equality; history shows that anything else is a recipe for disaster.

Graham.